Leaf Festival
by Smiling-Fox
Summary: Konoha's biggest festival is coming around, and the gennin can't wait! All but one. But who will be going with who? Rating is for Language. Please R&R Wow, I AM still alive! Presenting CHAPTER 17! Final pairings are done!
1. Preparations

----My first ever posted Fanfic! Be kind! ; This was just a cute little idea I came up with, so I decided to give it a shot. Please review and tell me if you like it! Flames will be doused. ;

Disclaimer: Try as I might, the lawyers keep telling me I cannot have Naruto. Darn. /

---Chapter 1: Preparations-  
  
"This sucks!'

"Yep."

"This REALLY sucks!!"

"Yyyyy-up."

"**So why are we doing this?!**" Uzumaki Naruto hopped up from his crouching position, flopping over backwards into a huge pile of crunchy, dry leaves.

For the nine-hundredth time, Uchiha Sasuke sent his blonde companion a glare that could have melted lead. Haruno Sakura, from her leaf-collecting spot a little ways away, just sighed and looked away, knowing well enough to not complain about the ridiculous task.

And just why was Cell 7 picking up leaves?

One would figure, as logic commands, that Konohagakure village, the "Village Hidden in the Leaves," would have a great deal of raking and bagging to be done once autumn hit. And so it was every year, that once the leaves began to turn color, the villagers had a great task ahead of them. Genins, as the lowest rank on the Ninja hierarchy, were most often charged with cleaning up other's people's yards and so forth. And Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto, were of course still just Genins. They had arrived at their usual meeting spot this morning, waiting as always for their constantly late Sensei. But once Kakashi had shown up and explained their mission for the day, things only seemed to get worse. At midday, they had already been raking for four hours, and were not even half done with their list of houses to clean up. Thankfully though, they had been drafted to mostly small houses, with only about an hour or less of work to each.

So there they were, some of the most promising ninjas of their age...raking leaves.

Sasuke grunted in anger as he stuffed another bag full of the crisp brown leaves. This was beneath him. This was a waste of his precious time! He was the last surviving Uchiha, for god's sake! Raking leaves! Another hand full of the leaves went into the bag, and Sasuke made a mental note to take out his anger on Naruto later.

Naruto, with his lack of internal dialog, blurted his complaints out loud, "Ano sa, ano sa! Why do we have to **do **this?! Can we stop now? I'm hungry, I haven't even had breakfast yet!"

Sakura could sense Sasuke's glare without looking up. The pink haired kunoichi sighed to herself, gathering a few more dead leaves into her hands as she gave the hyper-active ninja the same answer she'd been spouting for four hours, "It's our mission, we have to do it! And Kakashi-sensei said we could eat after we'd finished!"

"So shut your mouth and get back to work!" Sasuke growled; mostly at Naruto, but he was sick of hearing Sakura whine too. The cranky Uchiha tied off his bag of leaves and gave it a toss, inadvertently hitting Naruto in his stomach.

The blonde shinobi was winded for an instant, glaring as best he could manage at the raven-haired boy. Naruto then leaned back into his pile of leaves, staring up at the sky, "But this is so boring. It's even worse then picking weeds or walking dogs!"

"Think of it this way:" Sakura glanced up as she also started tying her bag off, "It just means that the Leaf Festival is coming up!"

There was a clear scoff from Sasuke. He fidgeted with his shirt collar for a second, then settled back down on the damp ground and again started gathering leaves.

Naruto on the other hand, leapt up at the news, spilling most of his pile, "I didn't even think of it that way!"

The Leaf festival had been a tried and true tradition in Konohagakure since its creation. As the honored village hidden in the leaves, autumn held something of a special place in the hearts of the villagers. For a whole week, missions would be suspended, and there would be a massive festival all through the village. Tourists from other Ninja villages even came to visit just to see the festivities and the brilliant hues of the tree leaves. And the whole thing wound down with a massive bonfire of leaves—which was why all the leaves in the village were being collected instead of just immediately being disposed of. Kakashi even had to stop Sasuke from just burning the leaves where they were and save them the trouble of raking. The bags that the Genins would collect over the next few days were burned at the end of the festival, as a symbol of both Konoha, and the Fire country it was hidden within.

So most people, like the hyper Naruto, loved this time of year. But Sasuke was always one to kill the mood, wasn't he?

"I can't wait for the festival food! And the games! Oh, oh! And the food! Did I mention the food, Sakura-chan?" Naruto hopped up and down a few times, hands balled into excited fists as those bright blue eyes stared over at his long-time crush.

"Yes...you mentioned the food..." Sakura sweat dropped ever so slightly. Baka. What a one-track mind he had. But then again, she was not much different. Externally, all that happened was a slight blush over Sakura's cheeks. But internally, Inner Sakura was practically ablaze with determination, "_I can't wait for the DANCE! This year, THIS year! Sasuke-kun, you're all mine! I'm taking you to the Leaf Festival Dance if I have to DRAG YOU OVER A HUNDRED DEAD CORPSES!!!_" Sakura lost herself to these thoughts, tying her bag over and over until it was a mess of knots.

"YATTAH!" Naruto leapt in joy, nearly drooling at the thought of all that food, "I can't wait, I can't wait! Now I'm really motivated! Alright! The sooner we get this done, the sooner we get festival food!" The crazed blonde crossed his pointer and middle fingers over each other. In a poof of smoke, he split into no less then twenty duplicates of himself. Naruto's new motivation and addition of his bushin made the task go all that much quicker.

Naruto and Sakura were suddenly all smiles...but Sasuke...Sasuke just found himself crushing leaves into powder in aggravation. Damned Leaf Festival...

"Yosh!" clear across Konoha, Cell 12 found itself with the very same task of leaf raking. And as usual, Rock Lee was turning it into a competition, "If I can pick up every single leaf on this side of the yard, Sakura-san will go with me to the Festival Dance! But if I miss even **one**, she will reject me and make fun of my eyebrows!"

Tenten rolled her chestnut eyes at the overly energetic Lee, mumbling a few more times about how she wished she could use her signature weapons skills to lift these leaves. Their Sensei Gai had forbidden them from using anything other than physical strength to pick up the leaves. His sick idea of training, of course. He even sealed it with the usual sparkly 'Nice guy pose.'

Hyuuga Neji shifted his pale eyes over to Lee, half glaring half shutting in exasperation, "Lee. Just pick up leaves. This has nothing to do with your insane crush. Just complete the miss-"

"Ah-ha!" Lee cut off his long time rival, pointing a bandaged finger across the yard, "You are just afraid that I will pick up more leaves than you, Neji!"

Both of Lee's teammates paled. One would think that Tenten and Neji would be used to Lee's lunacy by now, but it still found a way of irritating them.

"I accept your challenge!" The proud green beast of Konohagakure screamed at the top of his lungs, "Whichever one of us can pick up the most leaves will prove the better man, Hyuuga Neji! Let us begin!" Rock Lee's teeth 'pinged' as he struck his sensei's signature pose.

Neji did not respond. He didn't even remember issuing the green-clad ninja a challenge. The Hyuuga genius stooped back over his pile of perfect raked leaves and went back to bagging them.

Lee took off like a bolt, dashing back and forth across the yard as he frantically grabbed as many crunchy leaves as he could. All that speed, however, kept spilling out whatever he had previously collected. The other two sighed at him, wondering if they would ever finish.

And so, the countdown to the Leaf Festival began among the Genin.

----Good? Bad? I require input! Please? If I ask a few hundred more times? o.o;

Words you should know anyway:  
Ano sa Naruto's way of getting attention. Kind of a "Hey!"  
Baka"idiot"  
GeninLow Level Ninja  
SenseiMaster or Teacher  
Yosh!"Alright!"


	2. Time Winds Down

Wow! I got such good responses! Arigato, minna!

But what everyone really wanted to know about was the pairings. I haven't decided on pairings, really. I was originally going to start posting and then let you guys pick! ; My favorites, as you feared, are NaruHina and SasuSaku, BUT, that doesn't mean I won't change it (I always did feel a little bad for Kiba, anyway! And this fic even started as an excuse for Sakura and Lee to hang out!) So as far as pairings go, nothing is set in stone. For now, let's go watch the poor little Gennins being tormented some more, shall we? D

The Disclaimer—I can't have Naruto?! Awww! What about just Lee and Sasuke? Ahh—Kishimoto-san!! What are you doing with that shot-gun?! 0.o; (Obviously, Naruto is not mine.)

--**Chapter 2: Time winds down**

"'_To-chan! 'To-chan! Look here! Aren't the leaves pretty? 'To-chan?"_

"_Now, Itachi, stand up straight. No son of mine is going to look like a slob at the festival. Straight, I said! Do not start this again."_

"..._are you listening to me, To-chan?"_

"_Itachi, here. This is a good friend of mine, he's very influential in the-"_

"Do...you even know I'm here? 'To-chan...look at me..." 

"SASUKEEEEEEEE!!!" How quickly those bittersweet memories disappeared when your closest friend was screaming at the top of his lungs in your ear, "OI!!! Sasuke!! Did you hear me?! I said hurry up! I wanna get some food before the crowds come!" Naruto hopped up and down a few times in frustration, the large, clear, and still empty leaf bag flailing in the chilly autumn breeze.

The famed Uchiha glare made another appearance. After a memory like that, Sasuke was feeling even grouchier about the oncoming festival. He was in no rush to finish this mission and hurry time along like his partners

"Sasuke-kun, Naruto, hurry! I don't know when he'll be coming back!" Sakura shouted from her position high up in a tree. Over the last week, the trio had figured out a pretty good strategy for the daily annoyance of leaf raking. Sasuke, with his superior speed, would rake the entire lawn into one massive pile. Then Naruto would use his patented Kage Bushin no Jutsu and split into a few hundred clones to bag the pile. Sakura was lookout, making sure Kakashi-sensei didn't wander over and catch their scheme. It was all very clever, or so they thought, and made the job go twice as fast. As it stood, this house was the very last of the missions on their list before the festival break, and they were half done already.

Naruto, who had seen a few of the festival booths setting up, was dying to get this over with and go enjoy some food, "Come on, already!! What's your problem?! Sasuke!!"

"Alright!" the raven-haired ninja snapped back at him. Reluctantly, Sasuke went back to raking the pile, but all the while his mind wandered. Every year it was the same thing...damned festival. He wished they would just stop holding it all together.

The blonde shinobi watched him impatiently, arms folded across his chest and a foot tapping on the ground. He couldn't wait a second longer! Naruto quickly molded some chakra and crossed his fingers, "Kage Bushin No Jutsu!" A puff of smoke, and suddenly thirty Narutos were attacking the disheveled pile of leaves as if it were a gigantic bowl of Ramen, "I'm not gonna wait all day for you, Baka! I wanna get going already!"

Sasuke just huffed, "Fine. Do whatever you want...dobe..." The Uchiha heir tossed his rake across the yard, stuffing his hands into his pockets and leaning up against a tree trunk. The expression on his face was a mystery; something of a cross between unbridled anger and deep-rooted sorrow.

Of course, no change in Uchiha Sasuke went unnoticed. Sakura shifted her emerald eyes from her watch for a moment and down at the brooding Sasuke. _"Sasuke-kun...what could be bothering you...?"_

"Hello there." Sakura's thoughts were very abruptly interrupted, and when she turned her eyes away from Sasuke, she was eye to eye with the masked ninja Kakashi, "What's this? Trying some short-cuts are we?"

"YEEEEEE!!!" the shock sent the kunoichi tumbling from her perch and, by some coincidence, onto the actual Naruto. The blonde's clones quickly poofed back into nothing more than smoke and air.

Sasuke just glanced up at the Jounin as his two teammates attempted to untangle themselves from one another.

"Well now." Kakashi took in a deep breath, reaching a hand into his pouch and producing his usual reading material. The masked ninja's single exposed eye carefully watched his book, as he spoke, "This is no good. Only two of you are getting the work done. Go back and open up those bags of leaves, you are going to rake this whole lawn all over again."

There was a loud groan from the three Gennin.

Being that it was midday already, it was finally time for Shikamaru to get out of bed. With a loud yawn and a grunt, the shadow-wielding shinobi climbed out from under his sheets, rubbed the back of his hand against his eyes, and gradually made his way across the room to his clothing. How troublesome all this leaf raking was. They had been assigned to these kinds of missions for nearly a whole week already, and it was becoming annoying. He was, after all, at the Chuunin level already. Why should he have to do these kinds of missions? Of course, Shikamaru's cell had also adapted their own method of raking. Chouji just had to run his Meat Tank technique around in circles until all the leaves were swept into one massive pile. But then Shikamaru and Ino had to pick all those leaves up as the chubby ninja staggered around dizzily.

"Mendokuse..." Shikamaru mumbled to himself as he straightened out his flank jacket, "We've collected more than enough leaves for the fire. Maybe I'll just go back to sleep..."

"Shikamaru!" a very loud and commanding voice echoed into his room, making poor Shikamaru flinch instantly, "Are you still asleep?! Young man, you have missions to complete! Get going!"

"H-hai, 'Ka-san! I'm going!" he knew better than to talk back to his mother, and so the Nara heir instantly strapped all his weapons and scrolls in place and took off out of the door.

Once away from his house, however, Shikamaru slowed to his usual pace. No need to hurry, the leaves certainly weren't going anywhere. "Mendokuse, mendokuse...women are such a pain! Even my own mother. Geez..." As he shuffled lazily along his way, Shikamaru's eye caught sight of some of his former classmates. He spied Cell 8 through a crack in some villager's fence, engaged in the same kind of leaf lunacy that all the other Gennin were. It seemed like a good enough excuse to waste time, so Shikamaru wandered over and folded his arms onto the fence post to watch.

"Oi, Akamaru! Speed it up! We're almost done for today!" Inuzuka Kiba sped around the lawn, his clothing covered from head to toe in scraps of dead leaves. His little companion, the white puppy Akamaru, yipped an agreement and went chasing after his master. Both man and dog reached a pile of leaves, stooped over, and started shoving hand-fulls of leaves into a bag.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow silently, thinking that Kiba was becoming a little **too** much like a canine for his own good. The lazy shinobi glanced from the dog-trainer to the infamously creepy Aburame Shino.

Shino was leaned up against the far side of that fence, his hands buried in his jacket pockets, his face hidden as ever by those sunglasses and his high collar. It seemed at first that Shino was not doing a damned thing; just relaxing and letting Kiba go nuts. But a closer inspection showed a pile of leaves very close to him being lifted and bagged by invisible hands. The heir to the Aburame clan had ordered his bugs to pick up the leaves for him, even if they could only do it one leaf at a time.

"_Lucky for him. He never has to lift a hand to do anything..." _Shikamaru mused to himself; suddenly wondering if having bugs live under your skin wasn't such a bad idea after all.

The last member of Cell 8 was not as fortunate as Shino. Hinata, for all the Byakugan's great power, was stuck with the task of raking. Being able to see right through objects was of little help in a mission like this, and the shy Hinata just ran the rake back and forth to make piles for Kiba and Shino.

The lazy Shinobi quickly grew tired of watching this. Even just seeing someone else doing this much hard work was too troublesome for him. Just as Shikamaru was considering heading over to his own mission, a hand clapped vary hard against his back, knocking the wind out of him.

"Shikamaru! What're you doing here!?" the hand would of course belong to the single most hyperactive ninja in all of Konoha, Uzumaki Naruto, "Don't you have to go rake up leaves too?"

"Naruto..." the shadow shinobi glared, quickly catching his breath and pulling himself away from the fence post.

Naruto's loud voice almost instantly caught the attention of his Number one fan, Hinata, even if it did take her a while to gather up the courage to go say hello, "N...Naruto-kun...H-hello..."

"Ahhh? Hinata?" the clueless fox-boy paid little attention to Hinata's furious blush and shy finger poking. He reached up and scratched at his blonde head, "Why are you hanging around Shikamaru? I thought you were in the cell with that dope Kiba."

As soon as Naruto said it, 'that dope's dog went over and took a bite out of him, "I heard that, you jerk!" It was not so much the dope comment that brought Kiba stomping over towards them, as it was the fact that Naruto was speaking to Hinata. He wasn't allowed to speak to Hinata! Kiba snarled, gritting his teeth together as Naruto unsuccessfully attempted to pry Akamaru from his leg.

Sasuke and Sakura, who had of course been following Naruto, could do little more than sigh and shake their heads as the orange-clad ninja hopped around and shouted. "Baka!" Sakura spoke up, "Do you just like picking fights with everyone?!"

It wasn't long before Kiba and Naruto got caught up in a shouting match. Hinata shyly waved a greeting to the other members of Cell seven, and Shino coolly made his way over to the source of the racket.

"Bastard!"

"Loser!"

"Dog-faced jerk!"

"Sic 'im, Akamaru!"

"OWWW!! Hey, fight fair!"

Shino cleared his throat loudly for attention. Calmly and slowly, the bug ninja's deep voice filtered out through his shirt collar to address his partner, "Kiba. That is enough. There is no reason to start a fight now. We still need to finish our mission, after all." The assembled Gennins-- and Shikamaru of course, who had stayed only to kill a little more time before he would have to pick up leaves—silenced, all eyes turning onto Shino.

Kiba could just feel his eye twitching, _"Why that little--! I'm the Leader here, not him! Where does he get off acting like that!_"

Naruto just blinked a few times, not really thinking about what Shino had said, but wondering if Shino had any eyeballs behind those glasses. Or did he just have two spiders? It was all very confusing for the short little blonde.

Realizing Naruto's limited attention span had expired, Kiba turned, puffing his chest out as he passed by Shino and back into the yard full of leaves.

Shino was ready to follow suit, but was blocked by the dog-trainer's back Kiba had halted as Hinata's meek voice once again spoke out, "Anou, Naruto-kun...? Who...who were you planning to take... to the...the Festival dance?" She turned several different shades of red, but at least she had gotten the question out.

Naruto's innocent blue eyes closed in confusion, "...take? I have to take someone?"

Kiba was ready to kill Naruto out of jealousy. Sakura was ready to kill Naruto for his stupidity. Even Shikamaru started wondering if he shouldn't just Shadow Imitate the dopey blonde off a cliff.

But before anyone could smack some sense into the little fox-boy, Sasuke snapped.

"All of you and your damned festival!" cold, angry onyx eyes trained on all the rest of the ninjas, "I'm so sick of hearing about it! I swear, the next one who so much as mentions it in front of me is going straight to the hospital!"

A hush fell over them. Hinata shied away from his overly scrutinizing glare, ducking slightly behind Kiba for comfort. Shikamaru wanted to just leave...how did killing time suddenly become so troublesome? Naruto just stared over at the Uchiha, still slightly confused why he would have to take other people to the festival. They could just walk there themselves!

Out of them all, Sakura was the most sympathetic. Something was really bothering him about this festival, and all she wanted to know was what. She wanted to ask; despite the dirty look he had trained on them all. The question was on the tip of her tongue, but before she could even open her mouth, Shino stepped in front of the clearly angry shinobi.

"Uchiha Sasuke. Just because you chose to be a miserable person does not mean you have to make everyone around you miserable too." Shino's voice was calm and even as always. Even staring down an enraged Sasuke, the Aburame heir didn't so much as blink...at least, no one saw him blink, "Whatever problem you have with the Leaf Festival does not affect us. If you want to be this big of a jerk, go somewhere else to do it."

Most of the others stared at Shino, eyes wide and mouths hanging open. Not that he didn't have something of a point, but still, did he have a death wish? Naruto was the first to find enough sense to speak, "Shino, go easy on- "

"That's it." Sasuke's voice sank into a dark hiss. He had heard more than enough. Slowly taking up the copied stance of Lee's taijutsu, he lowered his head so that an eye was hidden within the shadow of his pitch-black bangs—Sasuke's anger had found an unlikely new target.

"Shino. I'm going to shut your mouth for a very long time."

Sasuke angst! Sorry, but he is one of my favorite characters in the series. After reading my first chapter, a friend of mine started wondering how everyone else would deal with picking up leaves—so I came up with this! Plus, I had to get a few more of the characters into the fic.

All for now! Remember to review and tell me what you really wanna see! Also, if I'm using a little too much Japanese, please tell me to stop! ;

Vocab-

'To-chan Daddy/ Father

Oi Hey

Dobe The worst. Sasuke's favorite insult for Naruto.

'Ka-san Mom/Mother

Mendokuse Troublesome

Anou Uhmm...


	3. Brawl!

Author's opening rant-

Whoooooo! I got a lot of really good suggestions for coupling, but be warned now- I think I'm gonna get a little crazy with them, trying to appease everyone for even a short while. And when I say Crazy, I MEAN crazy! I think I've cooked up an interesting plot by now, THANKS! And a big thanks to all my reviewers! Thanks so much for the confidence! And I promise to go easy on the Japanese now.

And now, one last thing before I begin- This fight was half choreographed by my good friend Hitsuji-chan! Yes, a fox and a sheep hang out, it happens. Because I was scared I was under-estimating Shino, I went to her for help. So if you don't like the outcome, blame her!

Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto, because if I did, Sasuke-kun would not be doing what he's doing currently in the manga!

Chapter 3- Brawl! 

"Shino...I'm going to shut your mouth...for a very long time."

A heated silence hung in the air as the two shinobi stared one another down. Sasuke's glare pierced the very wind, and for a moment it seemed that he had killed everyone else's ability to speak with just the power from those Uchiha eyes. The onlookers could do little more than gawk.

After a while, Shino allowed himself to react, an eyebrow aching curiously, "Ohh...? And just how do you intend to do that, Uchiha Sasuke?"

An audible growl came from the Uchiha heir in response.

"You enjoy being a bully, do you?" Shino's voice didn't waiver for an instant, "I won't allow you to scream at my teammates like that. So maybe...I'll be the one shutting your mouth for a while." It was easily the most anyone had ever heard Shino speak. He slowly withdrew his hands from his pockets, signaling that he was ready to fight.

"Try it!" Sasuke narrowed his eyes viciously on Shino.

But a serious mood such as this does not go long uninterrupted. Naruto scowled at the two combatants, "Hey! Hey hey hey!! Shino! Sasuke's gonna kick you ass, you hear me?! Cut it out already, big-shot!"

The much taller Inuzuka Kiba loomed over Naruto, "Sasuke started this whole thing! It's not Shino's fault!"

"He just thinks he's so cool, and that pisses me off!" Naruto barked back. The two short-tempered lunatics again engaged themselves in a shouting match, throwing in an occasional punch or two here and there. Hinata, being the good little girl that she was, tried her best to break up Naruto and Kiba with countless soft pleas.

'_Humph...dobe.'_ Sasuke's eyes went to the side for the briefest of moments. But it proved a serious mistake. In the instant that he had turned his gaze from Shino, the bug shinobi launched his attack. The Uchiha's attention returned as he felt thousands of tiny creatures crawling up his legs: Shino's pet Chakra-sucking bugs. There was a quick grunt of surprise as Sasuke tried to step back. He quickly realized that shaking these little gnats was not as easy as he would have liked.

Shino calmly pushed the brim of his glasses up further on his nose, "I told them to attach themselves to you and drain your chakra as soon as you use any. So by all means, use your Chidori technique. But afterwards, you won't be able to move for a month."

Kiba, firmly placing a hand on Naruto's head to keep the blonde from screaming, smiled over at his teammate, "You see!? No one can beat Shino! Err...well, not Sasuke!" Naruto flailed under Kiba's grip, trying his best to slug the dog-trainer.

Shikamaru sighed to himself, "Tch. Not a very interesting fight to watch if it's over in one move."

No way Sasuke was going to give up that easily. He clenched his teeth, again seizing Shino with that deadly glare he had perfected. "No chakra, huh...?" Sasuke snarled. In an instant, the Uchiha had seemingly vanished from sight. Shino's other eyebrow shot up in shock, but he did not have long to think about what was happening; Sasuke's knee went full force into the bug ninja's gut. By using the speed and taijutsu he had copied from Rock Lee, Sasuke was able to fight very effectively without even tapping into his chakra, and it seemed that Shino's little gnats weren't able to hang on at that fast of a pace. Shino hit the ground hard, and a smug smirk spread clear across Sasuke's face, "Keh. That's just fine. I wouldn't even waste my Sharingan to squish an insignificant bug like you."

Sakura couldn't help but give a relieved little "Sasuke-kun..."

Aburame Shino coughed, winded but by no mans defeated. He was back on his feet in a flash, sending a quick high kick at the smug Uchiha's head. Sasuke only smirked wider, very easily leaning back to avoid being hit. But what Sasuke didn't see was the tiny black bug that leapt from the tip of Shino's toes onto Sasuke's head. Shino internally smiled, _"Good. This should be over pretty quickly." _

Sasuke countered Shino's failed kick by dashing rapidly to the side and bringing the back of his left fist into the side of the Aburame's head. For the second time, Shino went down.

"Damn it!" Kiba shoved the poor flailing Naruto nearly into the ground, wondering why Sasuke seemed to be winning so easily.

"...huhhh..." Shino was very slow to get back up after the last attack, though his shades were still securely over his eyes, "...not bad...at all, Uchiha Sasuke. But something is different about your style." Shino's gaze fell on Sasuke, pausing for a while as he worked out in his head why the Uchiha was acting stranger than usual. Clever as he was, Shino figured it out simply enough, "I see. If I recall, the last time you even attended the Leaf Festival was five years ago...with your parents."

If they had thought Sasuke was hard on Hinata for her comment, they were certainly in for a surprise. A look of loathing and blind rage crossed his face, arms physically shaking in anger. This was no longer a stupid little fight over a wounded ego. As fast as he could manage the hand signs, Sasuke had his Chidori charged, forgetting completely about the bugs.

"Sasuke! What are you doing!?" Naruto finally freed himself from Kiba's grip. He stared at his teammate in horror. He...wasn't really going to kill Shino...was he?!

The very same thought crossed Sakura's mind, "Sasuke-kun! That's enough! Stop!"

Their pleas fell on deaf ears, "DIE!" He charged at Shino full speed, the Chidori crackling and squeaking with the sound of a thousand birds.

Everyone felt their breath catch in their throats.

But there was no collision. Before Sasuke could even reach Shino, he felt his knees buckle and his legs give way. The Chidori dispersed almost immediately, and the Uchiha heir was now the one in the dirt. The shocked silence that followed was broken by Sasuke's voice, "Wha...what...in the hell...?!"

Shino let out a little sigh of relief, again pushing his glasses up on his nose, "One of my bugs just stopped you. When I kicked at you and missed, I sent him onto your head, and then ordered him to burrow under your skin and attack your nervous system. Your legs will be paralyzed for a little while." Cool as he was acting, even Shino had to admit that that was a close call.

Sakura and Naruto went green in the face. The thought of a bug latching onto and then digging under Sasuke's skin was making them feel nauseous. Shino's own teammate couldn't help but lift both arms and scratch frantically at his head, "Ugh! Remind me never to fight with him!"

The bug shinobi huffed, stuffing both hands back into his pockets and turning back towards the yard.

"..And just where...do you think you're going!?" Sasuke snarled up at his opponent. Shino had gotten the Uchiha too riled up for things to end so smoothly. Even without the use of his legs, Sasuke threw himself forward onto his stomach and preceded to crawl, "I'm...not finished with you yet!"

A few astonished gasps went up from the assembled ninja, but Shino just glared down at him, "Stop it. If I paralyze your arms, I might hit your lungs as well. And I'm not in the mood to kill you, Uchiha Sasuke." The raven-haired leaf ninja growled, inching even closer. But Shino outright ignored him, stepping away and back towards his own cell, "Let's finish up our mission."

"Yeah, yeah." Kiba pouted, dragging himself back into the yard with Akamaru on his heels. _"Stupid Shino. Thinks he's so great...not that I'd pick a fight after hearing all of that. But still!" _

As Shino reached her, Hinata spoke up again, "Shino-kun? Thank you...for standing up for me..." She very shyly poked her fingers together, staring down at her feet to avoid any sudden onset of blushing. The stoic Shino just nodded and followed after Kiba. Hinata was the last one inside, sending Naruto one last glance before shutting the gate.

As soon as Cell 8 was gone from sight, Sasuke's fist went slamming into the ground. How could he lose, and to Shino of all people?! The thought only added to his irritation. He hadn't even noticed that Sakura was kneeling next to him until she spoke up, "Sasuke-kun...? Can you stand? Here, let me help-"

"Don't touch me!" he snapped viciously at her. Sakura went silent, her hands folded in her lap as she watched Sasuke drag himself back into a sitting position. So that was it all this time; he was thinking about his parents. A soft sigh from the pink-haired kunoichi, there was nothing she could do to help him with that.

Just before Sakura could be lost to her thoughts, Naruto's obnoxious voice called both of their attention, "Hey, Sasuke! What's with you? You got beat so easily! You getting weak or something?"

"Uhh...I'd watch it if I were you." Shikamaru warned the blonde, figuring this was not the time to annoy the Uchiha.

Sasuke's voice came out as pure venom, "Urusai. You think I'm so weak, come over here and I'll show you!" He balled up a fist, fully prepared for another fight.

Naruto smirked, "You think so?! I could take you with both arms tied down right now!"

All of a sudden, Sasuke felt someone tug him up by the back of his shirt. Though his legs were still numb, he now almost seemed to be standing. Sasuke glanced behind him to see just who had lifted him up.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Their Sensei Kakashi shook his head in disappointment; giving the young Uchiha a few extra tugs up, "Do not throw your Chidori around like it's some kind of toy!"

"Kakashi-sensei?!" Sakura quickly got to her feet, "What are you doing here?"

Kakashi smiled under his mask, still dangling Sasuke like a puppet, "Didn't think I'd figure it out, Mmm?" Sakura and Naruto visibly flinched, and even Sasuke turned his gaze guiltily sideways. To avoid having to rake the yard all over again as they had been instructed, they left three of Naruto's clones in the forms of each of them to finish it off. So while the actual Cell 7 walked happily away from the chore, the three transformed Shadow Clones went to work. Kakashi motioned with his free hand to the hyper active ninja, "Naruto, come over here."

The fox-boy did as he was told, and got a quick thwap to the head, "Owwwww! Sensei!"

"Remember this: The further you get from your Clones, the less control you have over them. I realized what was going on when all three of your clones started running around in circles and singing." Kakashi tried his best not to giggle over the memory of seeing what he thought was Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto doing circles while singing loudly and off-key.

"Oh yeah...I forgot about that." Naruto scratched at his head a few times as Sakura cursed at him mentally.

"As for you." Kakashi's eye went back to the Uchiha, "Do I have to re-train you?" Sasuke's bitter mood quickly returned. He scowled back at his teacher, which only added him a few more tugs up and down, "Don't look at me like that. Do you want to be in even more trouble?"

"Heh." A new voice interrupted, "Look at the cute little Leaf Ninjas being scolded. Not much has changed I see."

All of the assembled Konoha shinobi turned their eyes towards the source of the sound, and Shikamaru gave a terrified little gasp, "Wha-wha-wha...?!"

"Some greeting. Whatever happened to 'Hello'?" Temari of the sand smirked at the shadow-wielding ninja. On her left, her younger brother Gaara just huffed. On her right, Kankuro was smiling strangely to himself.

The three sand siblings had returned to Konohagakure.

Author's closing rant-

Ahh! The fight consumed a whole chapter! Sorry! I honestly didn't mean to, but...it got a little out of control! But the Sand ninjas showed up! Why? Because I like them! Plus, more opportunity for pairings.

Urusai means Loud, noisy, and annoying. That's really the only word I used this time. Until next update.


	4. Unexpected Tourists

Author's opening Rant- I love you guys so much for reviewing! Really! It keeps me inspired. Thank you all so much!

Wow. I'm up to the fourth chapter already? I never thought I'd make it past the first! Sugoi! (Wonderful!)

Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto. If I did, I'd be making, not losing, money on plushies.

**Chapter 4- Unexpected Tourists**

Troublesome is a fascinating word. Especially when your mind repeats it over and over in rapid succession. This was what Shikamaru's mind had launched into upon sight of the now all-too-familiar blonde Sand ninja. The word was shooting through his head so much and so quickly that all he could really manage to do was sputter strange little sounds of confusion.

Temari, of course, delighted in his reaction, "Nara Shikamaru. It has been too long." Where as a regular girl would have pulled a tiny paper fan from her sleeve and flipped it open before her, Temari slung her massive weapon from her back and slammed it into the ground, sliding it open and coyly hiding half of her face. Her eyelashes fluttered, and Shikamaru's face went directly from pale to crimson.

Naruto, clearly the most clueless of them all, immediately hit the dirt and covered his head, "Ahhhhhh!! The Sand ninjas are attacking again!" This instantly earned him a glare from all the rest of the Konoha Ninjas.

"Don't say that!" Kankuro's composure quickly dissolved into panic. He certainly didn't want a group of ANBU to show up, misunderstand everything, and kick the three of them out of the village.

Gaara shook his head, short red hair bobbing around, "Baka."

"Huh...?" Naruto cautiously opened a bright blue eye and looked back up. Closer inspection revealed that, while both Gaara and Kankuro were in their typical clothing, Temari was dressed in a strangely formal purple yukata. Very slowly, Naruto got back to his feet.

Sakura recognized the blank expression on his face, "They're just visiting, stupid! For the Leaf festival! Many Tourists come this time of the year, remember?"

"Oh...oh! Oh, of course I knew that!" Naruto puffed out his chest to back up his bluff, "I was...only teasing them, Sakura-chan! Right, right? You got it, right guys?" He nodded a couple of times at the Sand trio, who only sighed in response.

"Ah. I see our honored guests have arrived." The surprises just kept coming; Tsunade, the acting Hokage of the village, rounded the corner with her assistant Shizune. The two of them smiled pleasantly and bowed to the siblings, who quickly mirrored the action.

"Guests, Granny Tsunade?" Naruto blinked at the Hokage, obviously still not grasping the whole concept of tourism.

"Yes, brat!" Tsunade's eyebrow twitched at Naruto's comment, both hands resting on her hips in irritation, "As a sign of continued alliance between the Sand and the Leaf, I have personally invited the three children of the former Kazekage to attend this year's festival."

Naruto heard nothing of her explination, "Don't call me a brat!"

"I see." Shikamaru finally found his voice again, glancing sideways at the Hokage to, if nothing else, get his face back to a normal color.

"I'm glad somebody does." Tsunade had to lean to the side to avoid Naruto's flailing fists. A light groan of frustration as she shoved the always-hyper ninja away, "And as honored guests of Konohagakure Village, I expect each of you to treat them with the utmost respect. No picking fights." Her gaze was squarely on Sasuke, whom she could only assume was being held up by his sensei for doing something wrong. The very cranky Uchiha met her gaze evenly as Shizune did her best to calm a still shouting Naruto.

"Humph." The instant he felt sensation in his legs, Sasuke wrenched himself free of his teacher's grasp. He turned away from everyone, shoving his hands into his pockets and starting to walk away. He was more than sick of this garbage already.

"Sasuke-kun!" the Haruno kunoichi called after him, "Where are you-"

"Home." He cut her off for a second time. Sasuke offered no further explination than that. Sakura just sadly watched the Uchiha symbol on the back of his shirt as he left, wincing internally at just how cold he could be.

Kakashi also kept an eye on Sasuke's retreat, "...Mmm. That boy has a chip on his shoulder that could topple a building."

"Aaahh...?" Naruto joined his teammates in watching Sasuke leave, squinting his eyes to get a better look, "I don't see anything on his shoulder, Sensei." Kankuro just barely suppressed a chuckle at Naruto's continued ignorance. But the white-haired Jounin didn't even bother responding to Naruto; he had better things to be doing. Very slowly, and strangely cheerily, Kakashi made his way over to Shizune for a little small talk. Sakura watched her Teacher in surprise. She never would have figured that he'd go for someone like Shizune. But as always, Naruto seemed to miss the point.

"Well then. I have matters to attend to. So, I bid you all a farewell." Tsunade bowed again, and the assembled ninjas mimicked. The Hokage quickly strode away, Shizune on her heels, and Kakashi all to eager to follow.

Sakura managed a tiny smile at her Sensei's attempts at flirting, _"Please, though...just don't read your 'book' in front of her, Kakashi-sensei!" _

"Sakura-san! Sakura-san!" the pink-haired ninja's head snapped back around as someone called out to her. With the widest grin possible, Rock Lee came bounding over to her, a bandaged arm waving frantically in the air for attention, "There you are, Sakura-san! I've been looking all over for you!"

Naruto smiled as well, "Hey! It's the Fuzzy-Eyebrows!" Sakura's elbow went swiftly into his ribs as a sign to shut his stupid mouth.

"Sakura-san. I have something very important to ask of you." Lee's face went strangely serious on them.

Just behind the green-clad ninja, his two teammates Neji and Tenten came wandering over, both carrying more bags of leaves than seemed possible. Neji poked his head out from behind his baggage, "Lee. Come on."

Neji went completely ignored by the single-minded Lee, "Sakura-san. I was wondering-"

"Lee."

"-if you have not asked anyone yet-"

"Lee! Let's go!"

"-would you mind terribly going with me to-"

"LEEEE!" Neji's last shout sent a bag of leaves tumbling to the ground, but had finally gotten the attention of his partner, "Tenten and I can't carry all of these by ourselves!"

"Oh, Neji." Lee blinked. He hadn't even noticed that Neji and Tenten were following him. In fact, it came as something of a surprise to Lee that he and Sakura were not alone here, "Ohh! And Gaara-san! You are here too. Welcome." The dark eyed sand shinobi nodded softly. After finishing up their last mission, Lee, Tenten, and Neji had gathered up the many bags of leaves to dump off under the Hokage monument carved into the mountain—where all the other bags gathered by the Gennin were kept until the Festival bonfire. But, as if he had some strange kind of 'Sakura-sense', Lee shoved his share of the bags at his teammates and went rushing off to greet the pink-haired kunoichi. And this, understandably, left the Hyuuga somewhat angry. Even now, Lee's attention had wandered far from his chores, "Gaara-san, did you just arrive at Konoha? Visiting for the Festival, correct?"

"Uh-huh." Gaara was feeling as talkative as always.

"Excellent!" Lee's usual grin returned to his face, "If you would like, I could give you a tour of Konoha! What do you say?"

"Lee!" Neji's voice dripped of poison.

Even Tenten had to speak up now, "That's enough, Lee! Help us take the bags away first!" There was a reluctant pause from the proud green beast of Konohagakure Village.

With a tiny little smile, Sakura walked up to Neji and started plucking a few bags from his arms, "It's okay, Lee-san. I'll help with this, and you can give the Sand ninjas your tour." Thinking she was helping, Sakura walked away with a very relieved Neji and Tenten.

Lee's shoulders slumped as she disappeared from sight. So much for plan A: 'Impress-Sakura-with-my-kindness-and-intellegence-so-she-asks-me-out'. A loud sigh came from the taijutsu master as he watched his ridiculously long-named plan fail so easily.

"A tour sounds like a good idea!" Temari latched herself onto Shikamaru's arm for no good reason at all, "Not as if we have anything better to do, right?" Her brothers nodded at her, and poor Shikamaru just squirmed in her grasp.

"Ahh...the festival doesn't even start until tomorrow. Might as well, since our missions are done." Naruto laced his fingers behind his head and stared at Lee, waiting for him to start.

It took him a moment, but the usually bouncy Rock Lee sprang back to life with a rather sparkly smile, "Yosh! Prepare yourself, for Rock Lee's tour of Konoha!" Lee turned and set off, Naruto and Gaara right behind him, Kankuro strolling just behind them, and Temari physically dragging the more than reluctant Shadow ninja at her side. His 'tour' as it turned out, was not much. Instead of actually pointing out places of interest in the village, Lee was simply calling attention to every single tree, struggling each time to come up with a different word for the many colors, "There is a very nice, uhm, Amber one. Oh, and here! This is an excellent example of tree. And there's a Crimson one right next to it!" Naruto and Shikamaru both rolled their eyes. This...was going to be a long tour...

While Lee set off on his own lunacy, his teammates had finally dumped off their bundles under the Hokage monument. Tenten and Sakura took a moment to crack their sore shoulders while Neji stayed stooped over their pile, making sure it was perfectly arranged.

"Hey, Sakura." Tenten spoke to the younger girl, "Do us all a favor, would you? Just go with Lee to the Leaf Festival Dance. Otherwise, we'll never hear the end of his whining."

"_And if she goes with him, we'll never hear the end of his BOASTING!" _Neji grimaced at the thought, wondering which option would be the least annoying.

"Go with Lee-san...?" Sakura glanced over at Tenten curiously, "But...I was going to ask..." She simply trailed off, thinking about how very against the festival Sasuke actually was.

It was no real secret who Sakura intended to ask. "I don't think he even wants to go." Tenten stretched her arms over her head, "Why not give Lee a chance? He's really a nice guy, you know."

"Yeah, I know..."

Neji suddenly, and rather unexpectedly, entered the conversation, "It is strange though. All the time I have known him, Lee never seemed the type. Who ever thought **beautiful** girls were his weak spot." Both girls found themselves staring open-mouthed at the aloof Hyuuga.

Sakura felt a blush quickly break out across her face, _"Did...did Hyuuga Neji really just call me beautiful...?"_

Tenten's face also went red, but for a very different reason, _"Did Neji just call her BEAUTIFUL?! Are you kidding me?! Why that little..._" Her thoughts became so violent that it was a small miracle that the weapon's master didn't just pull a kunai from her pouch and stab them both. How could Neji regard Sakura as beautiful? And how could he say so right in front of Tenten?! And how DARE that little pink-haired brat start blushing over it! There was no way Tenten was going to let this go. And so the chocolate-haired kunoichi quickly managed a wicked smile, her voice becoming both playful and deadly at once, "Well...now that I think about it, maybe Sasuke doesn't want to go to the festival because there's no one asking him who he's interested in. Maybe he likes...older women."

Neji's head lifted from his work, "Tenten, you wouldn't."

"And why not?" She snapped back at him, her fake smile quickly giving way to a fierce pout.

Sakura's emerald orbs turned back to the older girl, burrowing into Tenten's very being. There was some strange kind of fiery lightening reflected in her eyes, and her inner self went berserk, _"NEVER! I would NEVER allow you to have my Sasuke-kun! He's mine! MINE MINE MINE!" _ Her lip twitched in aggravation, but Sakura proved just as good as Tenten at manipulation, "Ohhh, go right ahead and ask him if you like. That just means I'll have to find someone else...maybe someone who finds me beautiful." At that last biting comment, Sakura turned and stormed off, leaving Tenten fuming like an angry lioness. Poor Neji, who had a pretty good idea of what had happened, gulped. What had he done?

"Ohh, and over here," Rock Lee was still leading his little tour across Konoha, still doing nothing more than point out trees, "is a very...nice, uhmm, Russet colored one."

Shikamaru felt his insides squirm, _"Just say 'brown' if it's a brown tree!" _

"It is very pretty, don't you think?" Temari, still attached to the miserable Nara, turned slightly to her brother Kankuro. The puppet master, however, had stopped paying attention to Lee's tour long ago. He was just looking for a good place to find dinner in between all those 'Burgundy' and 'Golden' and 'Ginger' trees.

Surprisingly, it was Gaara who answered his sister. "It is."

Naruto couldn't help but grin to himself, "It's alright. Just so long as you don't have to rake all of them!"

"It is more than alright!" Lee stopped short, and Naruto walked right into the elder ninja. "It is gorgeous! And it is always gorgeous!" Lee balled up a fist for an instant, but an unmistakable smile crept slowly across his face, "In winter, the icicles hanging from the tree branches sparkle in the lazy sun; In Spring, the buds of new life are numerous in the youthful air; In summer, wild flowers dot the heated terrain; and in Autumn, the dying leaves shine with the brilliance of the sunset! Konoha is always a vision of beauty, no matter what adversity it faces!" Clearly, this was a speech Lee had rehearsed many times before.

Naruto, Kankuro, and Shikamaru paled at the corny tirade. Even Gaara was mildly curious just when the bowl-headed Ninja had completely lost his mind.

Temari was the exception. She smiled at Lee from Shikamaru's side, "Very well said." She was rewarded with the usual 'Thumbs-up' and pinging sound of Lee's trademark pose. He really wasn't such a bad guy, she figured, just a little...well...something. But overall a nice guy.

"Now then, are there any questions?" Lee addressed his little group of tourists.

The only one to raise his hand, however, was Naruto, "Me. Me, me, me. I have one!"

One of Lee's thick eyebrows rose curiously, "Naruto-kun? You live here. How can you have a question?"

"Why do I have to take someone to the Festival dance?" the blonde blurted out, ignoring the logic of Lee's inquiry. Shikamaru couldn't help but slap his forehead with his free hand.

"Well, really, you don't HAVE to take anyone. But, if there is someone you care about, you should want to take them." Lee's gaze drifted away and his face flustered, obviously thinking of his crush again.

"Oooh." Naruto scrunched his face for a second in thought, and then glanced back at Lee, "Then, can I take Iruka-sensei?" Both of the other Leaf boys just about fell over with giggles-- Naruto still didn't understand.

"Only if you want to be made fun of for the whole rest of your life." Shikamaru smirked, thinking up all the rumors that would spread from something like that.

"No, wait! I know!" Still trying to grasp the concept, Naruto reached over and grabbed Gaara's hand, lifting it into the air, "I'll take Gaara! Since he doesn't know where it is, that makes more sense, right?" Gaara's pupils shrank in a mixture of embarrassment and irritation, and Kankuro couldn't help but bawl at the thought of his brother in a frilly little dress. But a quick murderous look from his younger brother stopped his laughter soon enough.

"Ahh, baka!" Shikamaru scowled. How could anyone possibly be this stupid? "That's not what it means to take someone! It's-"

"SHIKAMARU!" The shadow ninja paled as he heard his name being screamed out in that familiar and obviously outraged voice, "Where have you been all day?! You left Chouji and me to pick up leaves all by ourselves!"

"I-Ino?!" he turned, and sure enough there stood Yamanaka Ino glaring death at him. Next to her, Chouji staggered around, dizzy from using his Meat Tank technique far too many times.

"Ohhh? Who's this?" Temari blinked not-so-innocently at Ino, taking a firmer grip of Shikamaru's arm.

A vein popped in Ino's forehead, and she went from angry to outright pissed off, "You've been flirting all day?! You good for nothing Jerk! You're gonna get it!"

"N-n-no, Ino! Wait! I can explain!" Shikamaru wrenched his arm free of Temari's hold and took off running as Ino charged after him. The two of them went screaming down the street, leaving a very confused and very tired Chouji behind to explain things.

Lee figured this was good a time as any to end his tour.

Author's Ending Rant-

...heh. Maybe I should change this from Romance/Humor to Humor/Romance?

Yep! Tenten and Sakura are gonna have a war!

And it's a miracle I managed to type out Lee's little 'Konoha is beautiful' speech—I kept pausing to laugh. And poor Shika-kun is gonna be TORTURED! Kukukukuku!!

Sorry for the really long Chapter! Until next time, all!


	5. The Pressure's On!

Author's Opening Rant-

I love my reviewers!!! ::Hugs each and every one of you:: Thank you all so much, you keep me focused and wanting to update! n.n

I fear, though, that my chapters are going to become longer and longer as I go on. Each time I write the chapter outlines, they keep changing and getting longer. So, read at your own discretion!

**Chapter 5- The Pressure's On!**

Brightly colored streamers lined the streets, the smell of food wafted in the air, and children ran by wearing different colored leaf masks. The Leaf Festival had begun.

The weeklong celebration of Konoha's heritage had only just started that morning, and already the festivities were in full swing. Patrons huddled around festival booths for games and food, talking and laughing happily. But there was a secondary tradition within this tradition, one that was 12 years running now: Mischief. And who would start such a tradition other than Uzumaki Naruto?

One of the festival booths suddenly collapsed in on itself, spilling its goods all over the ground and leaving a very mad food vendor to pick up the pieces, "Damn it, Naruto! **Every YEAR**!"

"Nya-nya!" The kyuubi brat stuck his tongue out at the older man as he dashed away with an armload of swiped goodies. But this year he had an accomplice. Gaara was right behind the blonde shinobi, helping him to haul off his take. After a short run, Naruto plopped down behind a building to indulge himself. He quickly tore open one of the bags and started stuffing the contents into his mouth, "Sugoi, Sugoi! I've been waiting all year for these!"

Gaara watched him with an unusual expression of innocent curiosity, "You...do this every year?"

"Yup!"

"...and...they don't just kill you?"

"Heh heh heh, they can't touch me!" The blonde smirked, a few crumbs already clinging to the sides of his mouth.

Gaara sighed and took a seat in the dirt. This 'hanging out' thing...was strange. The Sand ninja slowly pulled a bag open and tasted the treat inside, "...not bad." Naruto nodded furiously, and then went back to stuffing his face.

As the two delinquents enjoyed their free meal, Hyuuga Hinata slowly crept her way over. Of course, the disaster with the booth caught her attention and, knowing full well who had caused it, she went scampering after him. But she hadn't counted on Gaara being there as well. This was hard enough on the shy girl as it was, an audience would only make it worse. She gulped, balling up a fist at her side in conviction, and stepped from her hiding spot in the shadows in front of the two boys. No turning back now. "Uhhh, N-Naruto-kun...?"

"Hinata! Hey there!" Naruto's grin only increased. Gaara glanced up and nodded a welcome, since his mouth was full at the moment. Naruto motioned to her, standing to offer her one of the bags of sweets, "Here! Have one!"

Blushing, she happily accepted, "Ahh...th-thank you." Even if it was stolen, it was a gift from Naruto. She clutched it to her chest, hoping that might keep her hands from shaking as she spoke, "Naruto-kun?"

"Mmm-hmm?" he again had his mouth full, but didn't have nearly as many manners as Gaara, "Wamm imm miff?"

"I...I was..." Hinata could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. She quickly diverted her gaze to the ground, "I was...just wondering...if...i-if you wouldn't mind...going...to the-" But she never did get the question out.

All at once, Naruto leapt up screaming, letting his bag of food spill all over the ground, "OWWWWWWW!!!! LEMME GO!" He hopped around frantically, and as he turned both Hinata and Gaara saw why he had reacted as such. There was a tiny white puppy clamped firmly onto Naruto's backside.

From his own hiding spot, Inuzuka Kiba smiled, "'Atta boy, Akamaru!"

Naruto flailed, twisted, and jumped, but Akamaru would not let go. The blonde ninja took off running, in some strange attempt at getting the dog off.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata just watched him run off, pouting over the lost opportunity. Gaara first collected up all of the stolen bags of food, having to hold a few in his teeth as he hurried to catch Naruto and pry the dog off. Hinata was left alone in the alleyway, looking down sadly at the bag Naruto had given her.

Somewhere behind her, Kiba gave a quiet shout of joy, "Yesssss! That'll teach him!"

Kiba and Hinata were not the only ones focused on finding a date for the dance. A little ways away, Rock Lee was ready to implement his own plan at catching his crush's attention. Lee kept himself hidden in the shadows on a rooftop, waiting for Haruno Sakura to pass by. He and his Sensei had spent the better part of last night cooking up this newest plan, and all that he needed now was her attention. As the pink-haired girl came into view, Lee's eyes lit up with determination, _"Alright! Time for Plan B: Impress-Sakura-san-With-My-Strength-And-Power-So-She-Forgets-Sasuke-kun-And-Goes-Out-With-ME!" _Yes- most of their plotting last night was over the name of their plan, and that was still the best they could do. Lee glanced over to where he knew his teacher was hidden and gave a big 'thumbs up'. A light flashed quickly in response, most likely from Gai's teeth, as the Jounin leapt from his hiding place.

Sakura was stopped dead when an unusual figure leapt out in front of her, "Haruno Sakura! I have come to kidnap you!" Gai pointed a finger down at her, trying his best not to grin. Not that it would have mattered; he had a black bath towel wrapped completely around his head, covering all except for his eyes. Gai had also found a dark navy tablecloth he was using as something of a shawl or cloak. He thought his costume was completely ingenious, there would be no way she could recognize him!

"Ex...excuse me?" Sakura stated up at the man, socked that anyone would walk around in public dressed like that.

Gai continued his little act, "I am...uhh, a Pirate! The Pirate...Black...toe." He paused for a moment. Black_beard_ would have been too much of a give-away. Nodding at how well he had come up with a convincing name, he again spoke through the bath towel, "I am going to kidnap you now, and there is nothing you can do about it!"

"Not so fast, Blacktoe!" right on cue, Rock Lee popped up behind Sakura, standing on a cable wire just a few feet off of the ground, hands on his hips, and a smirk on his face as he looked down at the 'pirate', "No one will abduct the lovely Sakura-san so long as I am around!"

Gai swooned, holding a hand up to his face, "Ahhh! I see! And from the looks of it, you are a very powerful and handsome warrior!"

Now, such a display of blatant insanity had two effects. First of all, people on the already crowded street were turning to stare at the obviously staged drama. And second of all, Sakura was turning red from embarrassment. Of course she knew who was behind the bath towel, but she didn't quite get just WHY Lee and his Sensei were acting...like...well, like this.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, villain!" Lee crouched, then bolted into the air at his sensei, "Konoha Sempu!" Since this was all staged, Lee made sure his signature Spinning Leaf kick was too weak to actually do any harm.

But much to his surprise, Gai dodged the weak attack and belted the young ninja right across the face, "Pirates don't pull their punches!"

Lee went skidding into the ground, staring up at his teacher in astonishment, "Sensei?! What are you doing?"

"My name is Blacktoe!" Obviously, Gai was a little too into character. He jumped at Lee, and a wrestling match broke out between the two of them.

Sakura, who had recovered from the shock of it all, grinned nervously and stepped over towards the Gai/Lee pile on the floor, "Lee-san. Can...I ask you something?"

The fight ended instantly, Gai's costume finally falling away as he still clutched his miniature clone by the shirt collar. Lee just barely managed to form words, "Y-Yes, Sakura-san! Anything!"

"Have you seen Neji around?"

Lee could just feel his heart shatter into tiny little pieces and fall into the pit of his stomach. First Sasuke, and now his own eternal rival?!

Sakura didn't notice how quickly Lee's face had lost color, "I have something to talk to him about, but I can't seem to find him."

"I..." Lee's voice faltered a moment, "uhmm, I saw him on the other side of town just this morning..."

"Thanks, Lee-san!" She turned and jogged away, turning one last time to him, "Ohh, and I liked your little play! It was very funny!"

Tears spilled out like miniature waterfalls from Lee's eyes as the kunoichi skipped out of sight. Seemed Plan B was a failure too. The rejected taijutsu master slumped, tracing circles in the dirt as he sobbed to himself.

"Ohh, Lee!" even Gai was driven to tears, "Do not give up! You will win her over yet!" It might have been a very poignant moment, if not for the group of children who had come scampering over to tug at the 'Pirate Man's' cape.

Over at the bridge, Cell Seven's usual meeting spot, Shikamaru and Chouji were loafing around. Shikamaru had his arms folded onto the railing, staring down as the water rushed underneath them. Chouji had his back leaned on the railing, facing the opposite direction of his friend and staring up at the sky.

"Troublesome..." Shikamaru sighed after a long silence.

"What is?" Chouji answered. For the third time, Shikamaru turned his face towards his teammate, and for the third time, Chouji laughed right in his face. Shikamaru had a large black bruise covering his left eye. Yup, Ino had caught him. He scowled, and Chouji slowly calmed himself back down.

"Women are troublesome!" Shikamaru bit back, his gaze returning to the river, "And they're even more troublesome when they gang up on you!"

"It's not that bad. Just pick one and go to the dance. What's the worst that could happen?" Again, Shikamaru turned and Chouji giggled. But that black eye was all the answer that the chubby ninja needed. "So, just tell Ino like this- Ino we've gone to the dance every year since we were kids. Let's skip this year." Shikamaru scoffed. "Okay then," Chouji let his eyes shut for a second, stretching his neck forward, "tell that Temari girl that you have to go with Ino. Its, like, a tradition."

Shikamaru's face went green, "...I think I'd rather get another black eye than piss _her_ off." The shadow shinobi rested his chin down on his arms, watching the reflection of the clouds in the running water, "I wish I could just go by myself. But now those two will expect me to ask one of them! Troublesome...troublesome troublesome..."

"_Wish I had such troubles!" _Chouji sent a sideways glare over at his longtime friend. Every year, Shikamaru and Ino would go to the dance together—all Ino's idea of course—and Chouji would be all by himself. Out of everyone, Chouji would always be by himself. Not this year! For once, he was going to show all the other Gennin that chubby guys could find a girlfriend too! He'd show up everyone else at the dance. This was his vow! The sound of footsteps snapped Chouji out of his daze, and he quickly elbowed Shikamaru for attention.

Yamanake Ino had arrived, smiling rather deviously to them, "There you two are! And here I thought you'd still be asleep. Well, Shikamaru?" She didn't even have to voice the question; he already knew what she was asking about.

Shikamaru sighed even louder, shifting to lean one arm on the railing as the other hung at his side, "Ino...we've gone every year. Can we just skip one?" Before he knew what had happened, Shikamaru was in the river.

"Shikamaru! It's that sand girl, isn't it!?" Ino roared at him from the railing, "You can just stay down there and drown for all I care!" She got no response from the splashing ninja, who was obviously focusing more on staying afloat at the moment than his dysfunctional relationships. Ino huffed, folding her arms across her chest in annoyance.

Chouji glanced down at Shikamaru, regretting even mentioning turning Ino down. But then, a thought crossed the chubby shinobi's mind, "Hey, Ino. Will you go with me to the Festival dance?"

Ino looked at him in mild shock, an eyebrow arching strangely, "Chouji...I'm not in the mood for your jokes! When Mr. Lazy-as-all-hell gets back up here, tell him to meet me at nightfall the day of the dance, under the monument!" She marched off, leaving Chouji groaning and Shikamaru floundering.

Since leaving Rock Lee and his crazed instructor, Sakura was slowly making her way across town. Very slowly. It seemed that, ever since yesterday, the pink-haired kunoichi couldn't take two steps without a kunai knife flying at her head. She smiled to herself; it seemed that she had sufficiently ticked off Tenten. Cautiously, Sakura peeked her head around the corner of a building to see if the weapons master was anywhere nearby. Her answer came in the form of six kunai coming straight at her.

The sadistic Tenten smirked from her spot on a rooftop as she heard a sickening 'Thunk' sound, "Got her!" She hopped down to the street, rushing around the building to see just how badly Sakura was wounded. To Tenten's surprise, all she found was a half-rotted out log covered in six kunai, "Ahh!! She used the Substitution no Jutsu!!" Quickly retreating footsteps alerted Tenten to Sakura's real position, and the chocolate-haired kunoichi was swiftly in pursuit.

Sakura ran as fast as her legs could manage to keep ahead of the shuriken and kunai that rained down on her. Luckily, this street was not as crowded as some, so the two female ninjas were free to tear at each other without really endangering anyone else. Sakura pulled a weapon of her own and threw it up at Tenten. In the instant that Tenten took her eyes away to dodge, Sakura had vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Rrrrghh!! Oh no you don't!" The weapons master pulled a scroll from her pouch. She flipped it open, letting the kanji activate and conjure up even more weaponry. Tenten spun, letting her weapons fly in every possible direction. One of them eventually caught Sakura's camouflage tarp, exposing the pink-haired Haruno as she tried to sneak quietly away.

"I won't give up that easily!" Sakura reached back for another weapon. Suddenly, both girls caught sight of the elusive Hyuuga Neji. There was a brief pause as they eyed each other, waiting for who would make the first move. Tenten and Sakura both turned at exactly the same time, now in a foot race to reach Neji first.

Poor Neji was caught completely off guard as Tenten went slamming into his shoulder, "Ha! I beat you!"

"You cheated!" Sakura was a breath behind the older girl, tugging at Neji's arm to free him from Tenten.

"I did not!" Tenten whipped out another kunai, and Sakura followed suit. The two crossed weapons for an moment.

Neji grumbled to himself, then forcefully tore the knives away from the girls, "What has gotten into you two?"

"But, Neji!" Tenten protested, pouting at her teammate.

Sakura almost instantly had a wide smile across her face, "Neji-san! I have something very important to talk to you about!"

"Ohh?" The Hyuuga genius lifted an eyebrow at the younger girl. Tenten stared, appalled that the little brat would be so audacious right in front of her!

"Yes, its really very important. But..." Sakura's gaze went suspiciously onto the fuming Tenten, "...but maybe we shouldn't talk about it here. Can you meet up with me later?"

Some strange squeal of rage was forced out between Tenten's clenched teeth.

Neji just nodded, "Sure." It sounded important enough. His reply only made Tenten turn even redder with envy.

"Good! Thanks! See you later then, Neji-san!" Sakura smiled pleasantly, just to get more under Tenten's skin, then went skipping off. Everything was going according to plan.

Neji watched Sakura leave, wondering why she seemed so anxious to talk without anyone else there. It was all very strange. He made a tiny little sound of curiosity over the whole situation, and then turned to his partner. Quickly, Neji took a step backwards. Tenten looked as if she were about to explode into a thousand little fiery pieces.

Back at the main grounds of the festival, Kiba had been diligently following Hinata. Ever since he had dispatched with Naruto, he was lurking in the shadows like some kind of stalker, building up his nerve to go and ask her. Finally, she was all alone. It was the perfect time to waltz over and very casually ask he to the dance. "Okay, Akamaru, wish me luck."

"Arf!"

Kiba took in a long breath, standing as straight as he could as he made his way over to the shy Hyuuga girl. Akamaru followed at his master's heels, figuring the human could use a little moral support. Kiba cleared his throat lightly and Hinata turned, "Hey, Hinata. F-Fancy meeting you here!"

"Kiba-kun. Hello." She smiled sheepishly up at him, still clinging to the bag of stolen goodies she had been given.

"Say, I was just wondering..." Kiba flustered, moving a hand to scratch the back of his head through his hood, "If, you know, you've asked anyone to the dance yet."

"No...I haven't..." She sighed, recalling how close she had gotten.

Kiba smiled even wider, his blush spreading across his cheeks, "Well then! How about you go with-- !?" Kiba's face suddenly twisted in pain.

A shout went out from behind him, "One Thousand Years of Death!!!!"

The Inuzuka heir at once leapt into the air, screaming at the top of his lungs before crashing down on top of a festival booth. Akamaru ran after him, barking as his poor master pulled himself from the rubble. Hinata watched Kiba's flight in bewilderment, then quickly turned back around.

Just behind where Kiba had been standing, Naruto sat crouched, his hands forming the sign of the Tiger, and a distinctly fox-like grin across his face. Gaara stood nearby, grimacing at the very memory of that attack. It wasn't a pleasant one to fall victim to. Hinata's cheeks instantly turned red upon sight of the blonde, but Naruto paid her little attention.

"HA! That's revenge for what you did to _my_ ass!"

Author's Closing Rant-

Such a LONG chapter! GOMEN! (Sorry!) I didn't mean for it to run so long, but...I guess I just got carried away!

Wow, a whole chapter without Sasuke-kun! I feel so...empty! O.O

Lee and Gai are really just TOO much fun to play with. REALLY! I might have gotten carried away with them! n.n And Shikamaru's torment. AND Sakura and Tenten's war! Let's face it, this whole chapter is me getting carried away!

What is Sakura going to talk about with Neji? Will Shikamaru ever escape the girls? Will Lee ever wax his brows? Will Sasuke get over his problems? Will Naruto EVER catch a clue?! Find out next time! (hee-hee! I'm evil!)


	6. Fanning Out

Author's Opening Rant-

WOW! I dunno why, but I'm super inspired today! I think I'm just anxious to get Sasuke-kun back into the story! n.n

Again, as always, a big ARIGATO (Thank you!) to all my readers and reviewers! I seriously couldn't do it without you!

BTW-the title of this chapter is basically due to a shortage of intelligence on my part. It's mostly about Temari (Who uses a fan) And UCHIHA (That means fan!) Sasuke, so...yeah.

**Chapter Six- Fanning Out**

Akimichi Chouji was a man on a mission. A mission to find a girl. Any girl! Just so long as she was willing to spend the entire last night of the festival attached to his rather portly arm. He walked up and down the streets, eyes wandering back and forth for a woman suited to his needs. It was by complete chance that he happened to come across the still formally dressed Temari of the sand, all by herself. Chouji paused in his tracks, stunned at his good luck.

Temari's pale orbs were also wandering, searching through the massive crowd for something. She didn't even notice the chubby shinobi until he came striding right up to her.

"Temari, right?" Chouji smiled up at her, "Do you wanna go to the Festival dance with me?"

There was a shocked silence between them both, Temari's eyes practically burning right through Chouji's head. The Sand kunoichi quickly turned on her heels and started to walk away, all the while laughing so loudly that many of the villagers on the street turned to see what was so funny.

Chouji groaned to himself, shoulders slumping forward. Strike two for the Akimichi heir.

Uchiha Sasuke, who had become something of a hermit since the festival began yesterday, was sitting on the roof of his house for a little fresh air. Dead onyx eyes surveyed the scene below him. Villagers were laughing at seemingly nothing, buying each other gifts as children zigzagged between their legs in play. It wasn't fair. Why was he the only one with such painful memories about everything? The very mention of the Leaf festival used to light up his father's whole face, and the entire day before it began, he would help his father and Itachi hang paper lanterns with the Uchiha symbol on them. His mother would always set up a booth by their house and sell her home-made baked goods—which, of course, was pilfered more than once by a younger Naruto. And at the end of the whole thing, Sasuke used to watch the bonfire on his mother's lap, while his father introduced Itachi to every influential person he could find. Such happy times; but Itachi certainly put an end to that, didn't he? Subconsciously, Sasuke reached a hand back to pat the Uchiha symbol on the backside of his shirt. Damn...stupid...festival.

While the raven-haired Uchiha was lost to his thoughts, and clearly off-guard, Tenten went silently creeping up the side of his house. She used a pair of her kunai to climb up, smirking wickedly to herself, _"Sakura, you brat! Let's see how you like it when someone takes away YOUR boy!" _Cautiously, Tenten poked her head over the edge of the roof. Chestnut eyes stared at Sasuke's back for a while, wondering why on earth he was even up here. Tenten eventually stopped obsessing over what could make the infamous Uchiha so gloomy and decided to employ her own plot, "Hey there, Sasuke-kun!" Sasuke slowly turned to face her as if in a daze. Tenten fluttered her eyelashes a little, resting an elbow on the roof shingles as she spoke, "I noticed no one asked you to the dance yet. Wanna go? I promise you it won't be a boring night!"

Sasuke looked her over for a moment. Obviously, nobody had told her about how badly he had exploded at Shino and Hinata for mentioning the festival to him. Lucky for Tenten, he was in no mood to pick a fight. Sasuke turned back around, letting his eyes fall back on the crowd, "Get lost."

The weapons master's face twisted into a pout. Not that she really wanted to go with him—although, even she had to admit that he was pretty cute! --But it was the easiest way she could think of to pry Sakura's attention away from Neji. And he could have been a little nicer about it! Tenten began making her way back down off of Sasuke's roof. She stopped as her foot came into contact with something soft, and glancing down, she realized someone had followed her up.

Chouji met Tenten's gaze, "Hey, Tenten? Will you please go to the festival dance with me?"

It took all the willpower she had not to shout down at him, "What!? No way! I'm going with Neji, you got that? NE-JI!" Although she was talking directly to Chouji, something in her sentence was more directed at Sakura...who...was nowhere to be found at the moment. Tenten huffed and hopped off of the roof, wondering if Sakura and Neji had met up like they said.

Chouji sighed loudly, still clinging to the side of the Uchiha house like a fly. Strike three.

Off in his favorite cloud watching spot, Shikamaru was taking a break from women. First Ino punches him, then shoves him in a river, then his mother had to chew him out for ruining his clothes. Mendokuse na! But watching the clouds float lazily by always made him feel a little better. Clouds never seemed to have girl problems! A soft exhale as the shadow shinobi reached over for a bag of fried food he had bought at the festival. He popped a piece into his mouth, resting his hands behind his head as he vacantly stared up.

"There you are." Temari's voice sent a horrible wave of shivers down Shikamaru's back. The lazy ninja twisted his head around until he caught sight of her, standing there in her violet yukata with such a wicked look on her face that it sent another shiver down his spine, "I was looking all through the village for you, Nara. You're...a troublesome one to keep track of." Her smirk increased, and for a fleeting moment, Shikamaru pondered running away like a screaming child.

He quickly choked down the food in his mouth, "Ahh...what do you want?"

Temari was never one for stupid small talk, so she got straight to the point, "You are taking me to this dance thing, right?"

"_Ugghh! Damned Festival!" _Shikamaru marveled at his internal impression of Sasuke. He turned over onto his side, letting his eyes close. Maybe she'd leave him alone if she thought he had just fallen asleep?

Temari was also never one to be ignored. She hovered over the 'sleeping' Shikamaru, bending at her waist and speaking even louder, "I said, you ARE taking me to this dance thing! Right?!" His continued disregard of her earned him a few swift kicks into his spine.

When it became clear that she wasn't going away, Shikamaru uncurled himself with a groan. He stared up at her hovering over his prone form, eyes still trying to catch some sign of submission from the lazy leaf ninja. Maybe there was another way to get out of this. Maybe this girl was more rational than Ino. "I...I can't. There's this one girl who wants to go with me, and...she's pretty insistent. And violent. You understand?" Temari gave him a look that dripped with death. Shikamaru diverted his gaze to the side, trying to remember what Chouji was telling him yesterday, "Its...like, a tradition. We go every year."

Temari very abruptly took a seat on the sprawled Shikamaru's stomach, knocking the wind right out of him, "Oh well. You'll just have to tell her your skipping a year!"

Shikamaru winced. Hadn't he TRIED that already?! All it earned him was a dip in the river. Troublesome women... "Hey. It's hard to breathe like this."

The sand kunoichi leaned over ever so slightly, locking her eyes on his, "You. Are taking me. To this dance thing." There was something very coy about her smirk all of a sudden, and Shikamaru couldn't help but fluster a little, "See you there, Shikamaru." With a wink, Temari lifted herself from his stomach and headed off to find her brothers.

If he weren't such a man, Shikamaru would have started sobbing right then and there, _"What a mess!!!" _

While the cat's away, the mice shall play, or so the saying goes. The Jounin were enjoying their week free of missions and free of crazed Gennin. Kakashi, Gai and Asuma were relaxing under a shady tree at the festival grounds, enjoying some of the food they had purchased.

"My rival!" Gai had finished off his food and, balling up a fist, turned towards Kakashi, "I have eaten all of my food before you! I win this round!"

"...right." Kakashi hadn't even removed his mask to eat. He was just reclined comfortably against the tree, letting his meal grow cold at his side as he took in more of his favorite reading material.

Gai continued, "Further more, I will dance better than you could ever imagine at the festival's end! What do you say to that?!"

Asuma plucked a cigarette from his pouch and brought it up to his lips, "Give it a rest, Gai." Gai smiled triumphantly at nothing in particular as Asuma lit his cigarette. After a few puffs, the Jounin spoke again, "Speaking of the dance, Kakashi."

"Mmm?" Kakashi looked up from his book.

"I hear you're trying to ask Shizune this year." Asuma smirked to himself. He had pried the information out of Shikamaru during one of their many Go matches. "That's pretty gutsy. I never thought you'd go after her."

The white-haired Jounin smiled under his mask, "Can you blame me? Although...you have your eyes elsewhere, don't you Asuma?"

"Don't." Asuma lifted a hand into the air to stop him, "She already said no."

"Too bad. You two make a cute couple!" Kakashi endured the dirty look his fellow Jounin trained on him, then turned his eye back onto the words on the page, "But yeah. I'm taking my time to ask her. Don't want to seem too pushy." Asuma and Gai nodded a few times in agreement. "And...what about you, Teach?" Kakashi addressed the man who had wandered nearby over the course of their conversation and taken a seat very close to the Jounin's shady spot—Iruka.

Iruka-sensei looked up from grading papers, a little surprised at being dragged into the conversation, "Me?"

"Yes, you." Kakashi turned the page of Icha Icha Paradise, "Which girl is a handsome young man like yourself thinking of taking?"

Iruka chuckled at Kakashi's tone, catching the overly playfulness of his entire sentence, "Well, I wasn't really thinking of going to the dance. I was just going to enjoy the festival by myself."

Asuma shook his head, "Poor bastard." The other two Jounin couldn't help but snicker. Iruka grimaced; this had obviously become pick-on-the-Chuunin time for them. Iruka gathered up his papers and bag of festival food, hurrying off to find another spot as the three higher level ninjas shouted for girl's attention, "What do you say, ladies? He's a teacher! Very good with children! Won't you give to poor guy a break!?"

Haruno Sakura was returning from her meeting with Hyuuga Neji. It didn't take too long, really, and they had finally come up with a pretty simple plan. It was perfect. She couldn't wait for the night of the dance! Everything would work out, she was sure of it! That left one thing left to do. Sakura made her way down the busy, crowed streets, closer and closer to Sasuke's house.

As she passed the very edge of the crowd, a voice shouted at her, "Sakura-chan!" Naruto came bounding over to her, Gaara still close behind, and both with arms full of toys and food from the festival.

Sakura eyed them both, wondering if any of those things were actually purchased, "Naruto, And Gaara-san. Hi."

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!" Naruto beamed at her, his eyes squinting happily as he spoke, "I think I've got this 'take someone to the festival' thing all figured out!"

"That's...good." A light sweat drop fell from her temple.

"So, Sakura-chan! Can I take you to the festival dance?" Naruto grinned, waiting for an answer. Sakura's fist quickly came down onto the top of his blonde, empty head, "Owwwww...Sakura-chan..."

"Baka." Sakura huffed, "You know I'm going with Sasuke-kun!"

Gaara remained silent, but his eyes sent a clear 'I told you so' over at Naruto.

"Awww, damn." Naruto pouted, freeing a hand from his pile of goodies to rub the now sore spot on his head, "Now I have to think of someone else to ask."

A strange little smile came over the pink-haired kunoichi's face, "Don't you worry about that." She received a clueless expression from Naruto in response, but didn't wait around for the question lurking behind those blue eyes, "Well, I've got to get going! See you boys later!" Sakura turned and took off running, leaving the two little monsters to their own business. Sasuke's house wasn't far, so she reached it in no time. Just before she was at the door, Sakura noticed her foot snag on something. It was too late to avoid it, and at the last instant she realized she had just tripped a trap wire. "What the-!?" Sakura's eyes widened as a flurry of shuriken came flying at her from some hidden trap. The Haruno girl quickly focused her chakra into the souls of her feet—which she'd gotten rather good at, by this point—and leapt away, avoiding a near-death strike at the last moment. She took a moment to catch her breath, then glared furiously at nothing in particular, "Tenten."

At the sound of her name, Tenten poked her head out from a neighbor's bushes, "I almost had you that time!"

Sakura jumped, not expecting the weapons master to still be close by. Her emerald orbs locked Tenten within a look of hatred, "Why are you at Sasuke-kun's house?!"

Tenten just chuckled darkly, hopping out of her hiding spot and taking off. That should give Sakura a little mental torture!

"Humph. Moron." Sakura just grimaced. She knew well enough that Sasuke would never agree to go with Tenten to the dance. In fact, it would be a small miracle if he agreed to go with ANYONE to the dance. This thought sobered Sakura out of her rage, reminding her just why she was here. She slowly turned back to the front door...and very nearly got smacked right in the face as the door swung open.

She was suddenly face-to-face with an equally surprised Sasuke. A slender eyebrow arched on the Uchiha's face, "Sakura? Was that you making all that noise?"

"Ahh...ahhh....Sasuke-kun?" Sakura managed a tiny smile up at her long-time beloved Sasuke, "Can...I talk with you for a while?"

Author's ending Rant-

That's right! I'm ending it there! KUKUKUKUKUKUUUUU!

Sorry for so much Sasuke-angst. But...I can't resist! He's just so...morose! n.n And you'll notice I'm very evasive about the "festival food"? That's becasue I'm not entirely sure WHAT they eat at festivals in Japan. I know they mention Octopus balls in Ranma 1/2 but...yuuuck!

Torturing Shikamaru is fun! I think Ino'll get another crack at him next time! And don't give up, Chouji!

One last thing—this might be my last update for a little while. I haven't...really...thought this far into the fic. V.V I require time to sort and assemble the rest of the pieces!

But yes, things will get angsty-fluffy for Sakura and Sasuke! MWA-HA-HA!

Ja, minna!

This is the Fox, signing off for today!


	7. Wounded Emotion

Author's Opening Rant- I love my reviewers so much! o0.0o Honestly, thank you all for being so kind! As I have stated before, you guys keep me focused and wanting to continue my story.

And I would like to apologize for any and all typos that slip by! Sorry! I do re-read the story before posting it, but I don't catch everything that's wrong. AND, I would also like to apologize for my Japanese! I'm so sorry!!! But when I think about these guys speaking, it's usually in Japanese—since the series itself hasn't been dubbed over.

I will give everyone fair warning about this chapter; There is going to be a lot of angsty fluffy things going on. For all of those opposed to SasuSaku or NejiTen, you might want to skip this one.

Oh!! And one last thing before I begin!

Chouji: o.o; .Uhhh…Chaotic Demon, will YOU go to the Dance with me?! ::Offers a rose:: ((I'm sorry! I couldn't resist! XD ))

**Chapter 7- Wounded Emotion**

Silence can be such a heavy thing.

It hung stagnant in the air between Sasuke and Sakura. They had been sitting in his house for at least an hour now, in a strangely stark and unfurnished room, Sakura seated while Sasuke leaned himself against the wall across from her. Neither spoke, nor looked at the other. Both pairs of eyes were trained down on the curious trails of light filtering through the windows that seemed to stretch the length of the room. Somewhere else in the house, a clock ticked loudly, keeping track of the seconds that passed in silence. He knew what she wanted to ask, and he didn't want to hear it. She knew what his answer would be, but she still hoped to change his mind. After a while, the silence began numbing Sakura's brain. She at least had to try…

Slowly, she drew in a deep breath and started forming words, "Sasuke-kun? I was-"

"I'm not going." He rudely ended her question, still not looking up.

Sakura couldn't stand the tension anymore. She jumped to her feet, seizing him with her emerald eyes, "But why?!" She gave him ample time to respond, but only received the sound of that clock again. "Sasuke-kun, I don't understand you."

"Of course you don't."

"But it happened such a long time ago!"

Sasuke's eyes rose to meet hers, slowly and dangerously like two onyx serpents. It was a silent warning for Sakura to not tread any further onto the subject. The silence returned as Sakura squirmed internally under the intensity of Sasuke's glare. After he was sure she got the point, the Uchiha pushed away from the wall and moved to leave the room, "You can let yourself out."

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura felt a lump of nervousness well up in the back of her throat, and swallowing against it, forced out her next statement, "Can't…can't you just let it go…?"

Almost instantly, all sounds were consumed and a dread silence fell.

Sasuke's gaze went back to her, his eyes wide with horror that she would even suggest such a thing. Sakura flinched at his sudden change in expression, taking a step back. In an instant, before she could even think about what she had just said, he sprang at her, pinning her back against a wall. Sasuke was livid. Sakura found herself shrinking away from the hatred and sorrow reflected in his dark orbs, trying her best to squirm away and escape. The enraged Uchiha lowered his eyes onto hers, making absolutely sure that she had no way of escaping or ignoring him, his voice darker and more sinister than she had ever thought possible, "You know what, Sakura, I would say 'Let's see you just let it go.' Let's see you, when your parents are killed right before your eyes, just let it go. When their blood runs clear across the room. When they have done _nothing_ wrong. When they, at their most vulnerable, are slaughtered by their own child, and you are powerless to prevent it. Let's see you just let all of that go. I would like to see how you'd deal with that…I _would_! But that's too cruel. I wouldn't wish that pain on anyone, Sakura, not even you."

Hot tears began forming at the corners of her eyes, and she found herself biting her lip to keep from crying. She was used to Sasuke being mean to her, but never this brutal.

He held her pinned for a moment longer, loathing shining across his face. Slowly, as if thinking over what he was doing, Sasuke released her with his hands, but not his eyes. Another suffocating look of hatred captured the poor terrified kunoichi, lingering just long enough to watch a tear trail down her cheek. Again, the Uchiha survivor turned to leave, "Just get out…"

Sakura pulled herself away from the wall, staring at his back through watery eyes. It was so clear that he was in pain, to her at least, that all she wanted to do was reach out and help him. No matter how much he cursed and screamed at her, Sakura would never hate him. She couldn't, "Sasuke…" He paused, just surprised that she hadn't thrown he usual '–kun' suffix at the end of his name like always. Sakura's words came trembling out, "You…your heart. It will never heal…if you won't let it."

"…get…" His body shook with rage, both hands clenched into fists at his side. He just wanted her to stop talking; it was driving him insane, "GET OUT!" He roared at her without even bothering to regard her with another petrifying glare. But the force of his voice had achieved its desired result: Sakura flew to the front door and left in a rush, the door slamming shut with a thunderous sound. Sasuke's house then fell silent, his ears at the mercy of that ticking clock. The Uchiha didn't move from his spot, he only stared down at the sunlight reaching towards his feet from the window…left again to torment himself with memories.

It was only by chance that Naruto had seen Sakura running in a panic from the Uchiha estate. As the blonde shinobi wandered the festival grounds alone, looking for Gaara who had wandered away for whatever reason, he caught a glimpse of someone shoot out from one of the houses. When he turned to see who it was, Naruto recognized the bright pink hair instantly, "Sakura…chan?" Judging by the look on her face, something had to be wrong. Naruto quickly dropped what he was doing and gave chase, following the Haruno girl into a small little alleyway edged between two towering houses. His breath choked in a gasp when he finally caught up to her, and saw her sobbing into her hands, "Sakura-chan?! What's wrong?!"

Sakura pulled her face away from her hands at the sound of Naruto's voice. She suppressed a few light sniffles, then, entirely on impulse, flung herself at the blonde shinobi, "Ohh, Naruto!"

Naruto froze as she grabbed him. He could feel her tears wetting the shoulder of his jacket within moments, "Sakura-chan. What…what happened?"

"Sasuke…Sasuke hates me." She sniffled again, moving a hand to wipe her face.

"Sakura-chan…Sasuke hates everybody." His comfort had helped much less than he had hoped, and only made the kunoichi bawl louder. Naruto sighed to himself; he was no good at this kind of thing. He didn't know how to deal with this. He didn't even know what had happened. But he did know that he was not going to stand aside and do nothing if there were tears in Haruno Sakura's eyes. He rubbed her back very lightly, not wanting to overstep his bounds, and managed an encouraging little smile, "Don't worry, Sakura-chan. Uhm…I'm sure Sasuke doesn't… _hate_ you, hate you."

"You…you think so?" Sakura was finally able to pull herself away from him, wiping her eyes dry with the back of her hand.

"Sure I do!" Naruto's smile spread even further across his mouth, "In fact, I'll go have a talk with him to straighten everything out for you!" Of course, Naruto only wanted to help the girl he had so long had a crush on…but secretly, he swore to himself that he was going to kick Sasuke's ass for this.

Sakura smiled back at him, unaware of the trouble she had just started, "Thank you, Naruto."

Such problems the Leaf Festival was bringing this year; and the young man with the two largest and blondest problems of all was finally moving away from his favorite Cloud-watching patch of grass. Shikamaru had decided that, even though it was troublesome, he was going to get himself lost in the sea of festivalgoers to avoid another confrontation with either of the girls. He made his way towards a booth, shuffling through his pockets for some spare change to buy another round of food. Just as his fingers touched a few coins, Shikamaru felt someone tapping him rather roughly on the shoulder. He sighed out loud, already knowing he was going to regret anything he said, "…what? What do you want?"

"What's with that tone, Shikamaru?!" Ino's voice boomed behind him, threateningly at first, but slowly melting into an eerily sweet tone of voice, "Ahh, Shikamaru? You are taking me to the dance, right?" She received no answer. "Did you hear me? You're coming with me, you know." Again, the shadow shinobi did his best to shut her voice out. "You _do_ realize what I will do to you if you ditch out on me, don't you?!" there was that threatening tone again.

Shikamaru turned to face her, scowling as he paid the vendor for his latest meal, "Ino…why are you so hell-bent on this? Go with someone else. Go with Chouji!"

"Shikamaru!!" Ino's voice went from threatening straight to deadly, "You are taking me! End of discussion!" She gave him a quick punch in the shoulder to punctuate her statement before storming off through the crowd, physically shoving people out of her way.

Shikamaru stood there, watching her part the crowd as he rubbed at his shoulder, wincing to himself. What did he ever do to deserve such a thing as this whole mess? "Stubborn…troublesome women…"

Being on a break was no excuse to let their skills slip, so during free time in-between attending the festivities and dealing with the other crazed Gennin, Neji and Tenten were training. They had found a remote little spot far from the crowds of people where Neji could perfect his Kaiten without sending a stray kunai into some stranger's forehead. For about the seventh time, Tenten unloaded her shuriken pouch at the Hyuuga genius. Neji twisted and spun, releasing enough chakra to form a thin line of iridescent blue light around his rotation. The weapons went sailing away from him without getting so much as a foot close, colliding harmlessly with trees and bushes. Tenten herself had to dodge a few deflected shuriken to avoid being stricken. After finishing his rotation, Neji looked around at the strewn weapons with a satisfied smirk, "Perfect. That should be enough for now. Let's head over to the festival and get some dinner."

"Hold it a sec." Panting slightly from the effort, Tenten eyed Neji with a cold look of curiosity.

Neji met her gaze, "What? You want to keep going?"

"No, I wanna know what you talked about with Sakura." The weapons master rested her hands on her hips, her gaze beginning to turn sour.

There was a long pause as Neji's pale eyes went across the clearing to avoid her. Sakura had been very insistent about keeping the secret just between the two of them; she seemed to think that Tenten was something of a big mouth. Neji was sworn to secrecy, and no matter what branch of the family he belonged to, a Hyuuga never broke his word, "I- Uhmm, it isn't important."

"Its about the dance, right?" Another uneasy pause told Tenten that she had guessed correctly. She fought off the overpowering urge to unleash another wave of shuriken at him, sighing as her face softened, "Neji. What am I to you?"

"What?" Neji's gaze snapped right back onto her, "What on earth are you talking about?"

A strange and soft look crossed Tenten's face, a look that Neji had rarely ever seen her wear, " Do you just see me as a teammate? Someone to train with? Someone to make fun of Lee behind his back with?"

A strangled chuckle came out of the Hyuuga as he recalled all of the strange little names he and Tenten had concocted for the third member of their cell.

"I'm serious!" Tenten barked at him, obviously not in the mood for jokes, "You don't care at all about me! It could have been anyone from our class who teamed up with you! It would have made no difference!" Neji looked completely taken aback by what she was saying. He opened his mouth to protest, but the chestnut-haired kunoichi cut the sentence off before it formed, "Just tell me. What do you see me as?"

Neji's pale orbs wandered away again in thought. After a few quiet moments, he spoke up again, "You…are very much like your kunai, Tenten. When grasped the wrong way, it will pierce and wound you. But when grasped the correct way, there is nothing I could think of that I would rather have at my side."

Tenten's face went strangely blank. Even Neji was surprised at how poetic that had sounded. But the weapons master had no idea exactly what he was trying to get across to her, "Ehhh… what? What's all that supposed to mean?"

A gentle smile crept over Neji's face, "Nothing. Never mind."

Before Tenten could push the issue further, there was the sharp snap and loud thud of someone falling out of a tree. Both she and Neji turned towards the source of the sound, and there, lying in a pile of orange-brown leaves that had tumbled down with him, was Rock Lee.

"Owwwww…" Lee moaned to himself, swiftly pulling himself up into his usual Iron Fist fighting stance.

"Lee? What are you doing-" Neji was stopped by one of Lee's hands motioning for silence.

"Hyuuga Neji, my eternal rival," Lee's eyes went deadly serious, despite the many leaves sticking stupidly out of his bowl style haircut, "Now you pay for the crime of stealing the heart of the lovely Sakura-san away from me!" He blew his bangs aside with a quick breath, a few of the leaves fluttering to the ground.

Both of his teammates stared in disbelief at his usual tendency to overreact—although, Tenten was kind of hoping that Lee might actually kick Neji around for once. Neji just shook his head, eyes closing in frustration as he set off back towards the festival, "Idiot."

"Ahh! NEJI! Don't you dare run away from me!" Lee's cool was completely knocked off balance. The taijutsu master began flailing and screaming for a fight as Neji calmly left, leaving both Lee and Tenten to wonder about the mysterious conversation between the Hyuuga genius and the clever Haruno.

For the second time since her arrival to Konoha, Temari of the sand found herself scouring through the crowds of people for they boy she seemed most interested in. Pale blue eyes darted here and there, finally resting on someone. She strode up to him, smirking viciously at the unfamiliar face that greeted her, "Nice try. You can drop the Transformation now, Nara."

The stranger glowered at her. In a puff, the acrid scent of smoke filled Temari's nose as the Henge no Jutsu was dropped, and Shikamaru revealed himself. The shadow-wielding ninja went so pale in the face that he suddenly looked very sick, "How…? No, wait. I don't want to know."

"Heh." A triumphant little scoff came from Temari as she tilted her head back, "So then, about this dance thing."

"I thought we discussed this already." His eyes narrowed at his continued bad luck.

"We did" she shrugged him off, "But I want to hear you say it. Go on."

Shikamaru thought he felt a severe headache coming on. He closed his eyes for a second and massaged his temples to alleviate the pain, "You know, my friend is looking for someone to go with. Can't you go to the dance with Chouji?"

Temari sent a glare over at the lazy ninja, "I don't think so. You're taking me. And if you ditch out on me, you'll regret it." Shikamaru could feel his jaw hanging open. It was terrifying just how alike the two of them really were, in personality and in annoyance. And in patience: Temari's lips twisted into a pout as she awaited an answer, "Well? Can't you make a decision on your own, Nara? What kind of man are you?!" The sand kunoichi turned to leave, villagers moving out of her way either in courtesy, or just fear. 

Shikamaru's left eyebrow twitched angrily as he shouted over the crowd at her, "I have made a decision! I've decided that **I hate blondes**!!!"

Nearby, a band was playing an up-beat and lively tune, though it did nothing to lift Hyuuga Hinata's mood. Ever since she had blown what she figured was her only chance to ask Naruto to the dance, she had been sighing and sulking to herself. Hinata had been persuaded away from her house finally by Aburame Shino, who stood right next to her, either looking out over the crowd or watching the food booth just off to her side. Hinata folded her arms across her chest, sighing for what felt like the one-thousandth time as she stared down at her feet. If she wanted to stop obsessing over it, she had to talk about something, and she knew damn well that Shino would never be the first to start conversation, "Uhh, Shino-kun? So…who are you taking to the dance?"

"The same person I take every year." Shino's voice was stoic as always. He slowly lifted a hand, presenting a tiny yellow-and-black striped wasp that he had affectionately named Bee-chan. The little insect fluttered its wings in a buzz of agreement.

Hinata just smiled nervously at him, "O-Ohh…"

"You haven't given up on Naruto yet, have you?" Shino's dark glasses caught the dying sunlight and flashed as he turned to her.

The shy Hyuuga girl had been caught completely off-guard by his question, "I…"

"AHEM." Someone close by had just cleared his throat very loudly, apparently for attention. Shino and Hinata turned and stared curiously at the beaming, smiling face of Akimichi Chouji. "Hinata," he spoke without hesitation, "If you haven't found a date yet, will you go to the festival dance with me?"

"H-huh?" Hinata was caught off-guard again, her face blushing bright red over the flattering proposition.

But before an answer could be given, Chouji jumped with a start, same as Naruto had, as Akamaru latched himself onto the chubby ninja's ankle, "OWWW! Hey! Cut that out, you little runt!" Akamaru tugged furiously at Chouji's leg, growling as best as the little puppy could manage. Eventually, Chouji got the hint and turned to leave, giving his leg a few good shakes to throw the dog off. Was that strike four or five? Chouji had lost count already!

Hinata watched the pudgy ninja sulk off, feeling a little bad about it, but also grateful that she didn't wind up going with him instead of Naruto. She stooped and lifted a still growling Akamaru, "That's so strange. Akamaru…has been following me around since the festival began. I wonder why…"

Shino was suddenly very happy that his face was hidden, because he was sure a strange expression had crossed it. Poor innocent Hinata had no clue, but Shino knew exactly why Akamaru was playing watchdog over the shy kunoichi.

"…Uhh, Shino-kun?" Hinata hugged Akamaru tightly to avoid anyone else getting bitten as she looked over at her partner, "Could I…ask you a favor?"

"What is it?" the cool and collective bug shinobi eyed her behind his dark lenses.

"Could…could…" Hinata felt the heat rising in her cheeks as another furious blush broke out. She hugged Akamaru even tighter to keep from poking her fingers together, forcing a tiny yelp from the puppy, "Could…you…please…help me…a-ask out…N-N-Naruto-kun?"

Both of Shino's slender eyebrows rose sharply in surprise. He hadn't expected something like that. He gave Bee-chan a quick glance out of the corner of his eye, and receiving an encouraging buzz, nodded to Hinata, "If it means that much to you, sure thing."

A wide smile crossed Hinata's face as she looked back up at Shino, "Thank you…Shino-kun." This time, she'd do it for sure. No backing down, no chickening out—Hinata was going to ask Uzumaki Naruto out! Her happiness was so contagious that even Akamaru yipped and wagged his furry little tail.

No more than three steps away from them both, the third member of their cell, Inuzuka Kiba, was keeping himself concealed behind one of the many food booths. He growled quietly under his breath, eyeing Shino with murderous intent. "Damn that Shino." Kiba hissed, having to push a hanging octopus out of his face for the fifth time since he had began his vigil, "Who's side is he on? Keh, makes no difference to me. Even if a thousand Shinos were helping Naruto, I'm still gonna go with Hinata!"

For about the sixth time, the vendor turned an agitated look on Kiba, "Hey kid. Are you gonna buy something, or just stand there all day?" The booth's owner again went ignored, going back to handing out food to actual paying customers.

Kiba's gaze locked on his teammates, "Hmmm…now would be a perfect time to ask her, if only Shino would get lost! Come on, Akamaru…quit waggin' your tail and—GAHH!" Kiba shouted as something lifted him right off of the ground. Something very coarse and grainy. Something that felt an awful lot like…sand.

"You again." The deadpan tone of Gaara reached Kiba's ears, sending a shiver down the Konoha ninja's spine, "You've been causing a lot of trouble for that woman who likes Naruto."

Kiba was sure he had whimpered like a kicked dog as he turned to face the redheaded, dark eyed Shinobi. He found that, to his horror, he was in fact in the grip of Gaara's deadly sand, "Y-Y-You!! What…what do you want?! This doesn't concern you!" Kiba gave another yelp as the sand tightened on him for his big mouth.

"Naruto calls me his friend." Gaara's voice was eerie as always, stating everything very matter-of-factly and with no hint of doubt, "I will not let you interfere in my friend's life. If you do not stop, I will kill you."

Kiba swallowed hard, staring at Gaara in terror. But at once, the sand went slack. This was, after all, only a warning. Even if it was a VERY good warning. The instant he was freed, Kiba bolted away, screaming his head off for no particular reason whatsoever.

"Hnn?" Hinata turned her head slightly to the food booth just off at her side, catching sight of Gaara, but wondering who was screaming, "That sounded like…Kiba-kun."

Author's Ending Rant-

Wow! So this IS a romance fic after all!

Sorry If I got a little carried away on the Sasuke and Sakura scene, and if I went a little OOC on Neji-nii-chan. I even snuck a little NaruSaku in there! Evil, evil SmilingFox! This chapter's a little different than the others, huh? Not much comedy…well…except for Poor Shika-kun! Heh! Well, as always, tell me if you liked it!

I think I'll be taking the very good advise of one of my reviewers and pick the pairings myself—and Thank you, for giving me the encouragement to do that. Also, thank all of you guys so much for the wonderful ideas you've given me! But please…no shooting Rocket launches at Naruto, please? n.n; He'll get the hint, I promise!

Ohhh! And "Bee-chan" is a creation of Hitsuji no Pocky! Sorry, Hitsuji-chan! I HAD to use it!

Kaiten just means "Rotation." It's that spinny attack Neji does.

Henge No Jutsu means "The Art of Transformation."

And—I can't believe I haven't listed this yet—Kunoichi is a female ninja.

That's all for now! Until next update then!

--Fox.


	8. Decision

Author's Opening Rant- ::Gagging on Octopus balls:: X.X; …so…gross, gahhh! Pass the chicken on a stick, please?

Moving right along with the chapters now! I can't believe I'm up to Ch 8!! Wow! Thank you guys all so much for reading and reviewing, it means a lot to me!

Yes. I promise, that EVENTUALLY, there will be NaruHina! I don't want to slide anyone too OOC if I can avoid it, and well, Naruto's dense and Hinata's shy! But don't you worry! In fact, I'm pretty sure this is gonna turn out with all the traditional Kishimoto pairs now (InoShika, NejiTen, ect.) Sorry if that disappoints anyone. But...well...those are my favorite pairings. I can't help it.

At this point, I'm not really sure how long this fic is going to run to. I was hoping to get it done in 9-10 chapters. Now it's looking more like 13-14. Oops! n.n; Oh well, on with the story!

**Chapter 8- Decision**

Bouquet of roses. Check

Formal bow tie. Check

Enough youthful courage and determination to choke a horse. Double Check.

Rock Lee was now ready to ask Sakura to the Festival dance. It was his latest plan, Plan C: Impress-Sakura-san-With-My-Sweet-And-Romantic-Side-So-She-Goes-To-The-Dance-With-Me-And-Not-Sasuke-Or-Neji! The name of the plan itself was brilliant, so of course the plan had to be brilliant too. Lee was going to stride right over to Sakura, offer her the roses, possibly spout a few phrases in French that Gai-sensei had assured him were romantic, and ask her to go with him. It was fool proof! Lee wandered the streets of Konoha looking for his crush, dressed in his usual green leotard and orange leg warmers, but with a little red bow tied around his neck. It was about as 'formal' as Lee could look. His dark eyes scanned the crows of people beginning to again flood the streets for another day of festivities. But instead of Sakura, Lee caught sight of the Hokage, Tsunade, being chased by one of her oldest friends.

"Please, Tsunade!" Jiraiya, the famed Toad Hermit—or, 'Pervert-sage' if you were short, blonde, and possessed by a demon fox—was hot on Tsunade's heels, smiling through a begging tone of voice, "Just one dance won't kill you! Please? For old time's sake?"

A vein in the current Hokage's forehead throbbed, threatening to burst, "For the last time, NO you filthy pervert! If you so much as touch me at the dance, I'm going to snap both your arms off!" Lee watched the two of them move swiftly down the street, one pleading and the other shouting death-threats. Just before they were totally out of sight, a rather large blur sped past Lee and towards the pair of them.

Akimichi Chouji ran as fast as his stubby legs could carry him after Tsunade, "Hokage-sama! Wait! Will YOU go to the dance with me?!"

Lee just smiled and shook his head, "Such abundant youthful energy! This only inspires me more! Where are you, Sakura-san?" He turned to glance around, now blushing in anticipation of her answer; which would of course be 'yes.' But once again, Sakura was nowhere to be found. Instead, Rock Lee caught sight of the trio of sand siblings gathered around a souvenir booth. He certainly was not one to rudely ignore a friend, so Lee made his way through the thin crowd over to them, "Gaara-san! Good morning!"

Gaara and Kankuro looked over at the taijutsu master through arms full of Konoha souvenirs, both struggling slightly under the weight of their sister's newest shopping escapade. Temari also turned to him, quickly slipping the booth vendor a few coins as she heaved another package at Kankuro, "Well, if it isn't Mr. Russet-colored Tree. What brings you around, and…looking…like that?" Temari's eyes fell squarely on the little red tie around Lee's neck, "You look like a great big, skinny, green penguin."

Kankuro outright snorted with laughter, obviously agreeing. Gaara stared at Lee's get-up for a moment, trying to decide for himself if his sister was being funny, or just mean. Though, he also managed a kind of chuckle at the bow tie.

"Ahh…y-you think so?" Lee's face went blue with embarrassment, lifting a hand to tug on the tie, "But, Gai-sensei said that this would impress Sakura-san…"

"It might. Does she like penguins?" Kankuro continued to laugh, a few packages slipping from his arms. Luckily, Gaara's sand was able to catch anything that shook loose before it fell to the ground.

Lee's shoulders slumped in defeat, "I see." He slowly reached up and gave the tie a quick tug to free it from his neck. That at least finally made the puppet master stop laughing at him. With a soft sigh, Lee looked back up at the dark-eyed shinobi, "Gaara-san, I thought Naruto-kun was showing you around the town. Where did he go?"

"Not sure." Gaara's icy jade orbs glanced away in thought, "He said he had someone's ass to kick today, and when I asked if he wanted me to kill someone for him, he just told me that he would rather do it himself." His eyes then moved back onto his older sister, "So I came to help with this."

"Yeah, don't you think we've got enough now, Temari?" Kankuro glowered at the sand kunoichi, barely managing to take a step forward under the bulk of his packages.

Temari placed a finger to her lips, her gaze playing over the multitude of presents she would be bringing back home, "Hmm. Maybe."

"Maybe?!" Kankuro felt his eye twitching in irritation. All week long, he had been enjoying himself at the hotel room, driving room service crazy and just eating and sleeping this festival away. The Hokage was picking up their tab, after all. But this morning, his sister had gotten the urge to spend her money on any and every thing in sight, so she had dragged him and Gaara away from what they were doing to help. And frankly, Kankuro was not in the mood to carry heavy packages around all day.

"Well, let's at least put this stuff back in our room." Temari just shrugged.

Kankuro just about growled at her, his tone completely mocking, "Oh, yes. Let's!"

His sister sent him a warning glare, and took a mental note to hurt him later on. Her attention went back to the sulking Rock Lee, "What about you, Tour Guide? You want to help?"

"Ohh…Ohh, I'm very sorry, but I can't right now!" Lee smiled nervously, not really wanting to get roped into carrying souvenirs. Besides, he had to go home and think up another brilliant plan to impress Sakura. He bowed politely to leave, suddenly remembering the bouquet in his hand. Well…he certainly couldn't let it go to waste. Lee shoved the flowers at Temari and excused himself, "Here. You can keep these. I suppose I will see you three around. Take care." The proud green beast of Konoha stuffed his penguin tie into his shuriken pouch and started back home, unaware that he had been the first guy in a long time to leave Temari speechless.

Tenten lie in wait, crouched behind a stack of crates filled with festival goods. She was going to put an end to this war once and for all. She peeked cautiously around the edge of the crates, slowly sliding a kunai from her pouch as her target came into view. She had had enough of this stupid little catfight between her and the younger female ninja, that walking forehead, Sakura! Tenten quickly leapt from her hiding spot, whipping her weapons around at her "target".

And how very surprised Neji was when all those kunai and shuriken came raining down on him, "What the--?!" On impulse, he twisted and spun, letting his Kaiten deflect the weaponry before it could hit him. Neji turned to see who or what was attacking him, only to find that another wave of weapons was now coming at him from the opposite direction. He glanced around, taking careful note of all the villagers diving for cover, and decided that dodging would be smarter than his Rotation Technique. He hopped out of the way, finally catching sight of his attacker, and gasping in amazement, "**Tenten?!** What is going on here?!"

"Take this!" Tenten didn't bother answering him, only pulled even more of her endless weapons from her bottomless pouch and tossed them. Neji was so utterly surprised at her actions that he couldn't think enough to dodge or deflect them. Her weapons caught the edges of his clothing, pinning the Hyuuga heir very tightly to the earthen street below him. Neji stared up at the sky, wondering what he had done to bring on this kind of an attack. Tenten stepped over to him as he struggled to get an arm free, a stern look across her face, and both hands threateningly on her hips. She glowered down at him, and then very forcefully spoke, "Hyuuga Neji! Will you go with me to the festival dance?"

Neji stared at her in disbelief for a long time before he remembered how to talk, "Wha…what?!"

"Go with me to the festival dance!" Tenten simply repeated herself.

"…You're kidding me." Neji tugged an arm free and stared up at his captor, "THIS is how you ask someone out?!"

Tenten blinked down at him, a little confused at his reaction, "Yeah. Why?"

A long pause came between them. Neji had shut his eyes and bitten his tongue to keep from criticizing her social skills further, and Tenten was staring at him curiously, wondering exactly what was wrong with they way she asked guys out. After a few moments longer of silent contemplation, that rare and gentle smile came across Neji's lips, "Okay, okay…I'll be your date for the dance."

"Really?!" Tenten squealed with joy.

Neji chuckled slightly, sending a glance around at the hoards of weapons littering the street, "Do I have much of a choice?" Tenten squealed again, not actually making any words this time. She bounced around happily, leaving Neji to free himself from the shuriken and kunai, chanting something about 'Winning-over-a-stupid-large-fore headed-brat.' Finally, someone had a date for the dance!

It was still very early in the day, far too early for lazy little ninjas to be awake. Shikamaru was still tucked into his bed, having the usual dream about cloud watching on a hill far far FAR away from any troublesome women. He snorted softly in sleep, a hand flopping next to his head as he turned over onto his back. It was such a realistic dream; he could practically feel the wind. No…wait. He really **could** feel wind! The thought jarred him from his pleasant dream, a single shady eye peeking open. For some strange reason, his window was wide open, even though he was sure he locked it last night. Shikamaru turned his eyes to stare at his ceiling, and was very abruptly woken up by a pair of smirking, pale blue eyes staring down at him: Yamanaka Ino. "GYAAAAAAAAA!!!" the Nara heir flailed at the sight, tumbling right off of his bed, sheets and all.

"Good morning to you, too." Ino grimaced at his reaction.

"What...?! How…?! Why…?!" Shikamaru's eyes fell back on his open window. Of course, she must have picked the lock and snuck in—Ino was a ninja, after all. He shook his head furiously, tripping over his sheets a few times before managing to untangle himself and stand, "Ohhh, no! Hell no!" He hurried out of his room, practically leaping down the stairs to escape her.

"Shikamaru!" Ino was hot on his heels, "Wait up! I wanna talk to you!"

The shadow shinobi reached his front door, a hand reaching to turn the knob, as he shouted back over his shoulder at her, "No! I don't wanna hear anything else about this-"

"Dance?" his sentence was finished for him as he swung open the door, coming face to face with Temari of the sand. Ohh yeah, it was going to be another one of those days!

"Ahhh!! Will you two STOP doing that!" the poor scared shinobi placed a hand on his chest to prevent his heart from leaping right out. Ino stepped over right behind him, and she and Temari exchanged one of those heated 'I'm-going-to-kick-your-ASS!' looks that had been flying around so frequently lately.

Ino spoke up first, "Shikamaru. This is getting ridiculous! Just choose!"

"She has a point." Temari coldly added, "Pick one already!"

"Shikamaru!"

"Just pick!"

The two girls had backed him thoroughly into a corner. Shikamaru's eyes went back and forth between them a couple of times, wondering how he would get out of this. Once he recovered from the shock, he let his eyes shut tight and folded his arms across his chest to think. He stood like that for a very long time in thought, Ino leaning in slightly to stare as Temari scowled in impatience. Suddenly, his eyes snapped back open, causing Ino to back away slightly, "Alright. I've decided." Another long pause from the lazy ninja, in a desperate attempt to stave off whatever punishment would follow.

"…well?" Ino prompted, jabbing him with her elbow.

"Don't keep us in suspense, Nara." Temari's glare only became more and more venomous the longer she had to wait.

"Okay. I've decided…" Shikamaru took in a deep breath in preparation, "…that I'm not taking EITHER of you to the dance!" This was apparently the wrong answer, because as soon as he had said it, Temari's foot went into his gut and Ino's fist went into the back of his head. Shikamaru went down in a heap, twitching ever so slightly.

"Guess again, cry baby!" Temari howled down at him, holding up a fist.

"If you think that you're getting out of this, you're seriously mistaken!" Ino howled as well. Poor, poor Shikamaru just lied there, taking the onslaught of verbal abuse as he held his stomach. Once more, the word 'Troublesome' echoed through his brain. What…a…mess!

It took a good while to come up with another plan, but Rock Lee was back out wandering the streets, looking for Sakura. After having his ego completely deflated by Temari's "Big Green Penguin" remark—and how glad he was that the rest of his cell hadn't heard that one! Neji and Tenten would have dubbed him The Big Green Penguin of Konohagakure for at least a month! —he had officially named Plan C a failure and had retreated home to think up another one. It was simultaneously his most genius and most pathetic plan of all, his final plan to Impress Sakura. It was Plan D: Flat-Out-Begging. It didn't have a long, brilliant name, but he was pretty sure it would be effective. The plan was to just drop to his knees at the sight of the pink-haired kunoichi, then beg, plead, and sob until she agreed to go with him, either out of pity or guilt. It just HAD to work, because he couldn't think of any other way of winning her over! Lee paced the streets, swallowing continuously against the nervousness building up in his chest. Finally, after all his waiting and preparations, he caught sight of Haruno Sakura, and nearly tripped over himself to get to her, "Sakura-san! Sakura-san, wait!"

Sakura didn't even glance up. Her emerald orbs were staring vacantly at the street as she walked, a decidedly sad look dominating her features. She was still in a daze from her talk with Sasuke. The whole conversation kept replaying in her mind, over and over, as did the sickening feeling in her stomach. She didn't know what to do. Was Sasuke beyond help? Or…was he right? Was this all her fault?

"Sakura-san!" Lee shouted a final time, moving in front of her so she simply couldn't ignore him, "Sakura-san, hello! I have been looking all over for you!"

"Huh…?" at last her eyes moved to regard the taijutsu master, "Lee-san? Oh…sorry. Hi."

Her expression was unmistakable, "Sakura-san? What's wrong? Are you alright?"

"Ohh…Oh, I'm fine. It's…nothing." The kunoichi out right lied, glancing to the side as she laced her fingers through her bubble-gum pink hair.

"Sakura-san," Lee wasn't fooled for a moment, "If…something's bothering you, it might be better to talk about it than trying to cover it up."

Her eyes flew to him; was she really that transparent? Either way, she certainly didn't want to upset the older ninja by telling him all of the details, "Well, I just…it's not something I wanna talk about, Lee-san. It's okay, though. I'm fine."

"I see." Lee sighed. He was obviously not helping, no matter how true his intentions. And this certainly was not the time to attempt one of his hair-brained schemes to catch her attention. Not wanting to bother her anymore, Lee forced one of his wide smiles onto his face and excused himself, "That's alright, Sakura-san! We all get depressed once in a while, right? I…will see you around then. Goodbye!" He turned before his smile could fade, walking off towards home once again. Plan D was also a failure before he could even give it a try. Ahh, who wanted to go to a stupid dance, anyway? It was no big deal…right? Lee sulked off, feeling that familiar sensation of his heart being smashed into scraps.

_This is so stupid!_ Sakura's Inner self demanded attention suddenly, _Why am I dragging myself around in a fog when Sasuke-kun is probably not thinking about it at all?! He's probably enjoying himself somewhere, I'll bet! _That wasn't true, Sakura reminded her Inner self, because he hadn't enjoyed a single moment of anything since the festival began. But it was a good point. Why was she the only one getting worked up over this? Sasuke didn't care; she knew that fact well enough. And Lee, who actually did care, was now shuffling away from her, looking like a kicked puppy-dog. Her depression had become contagious, and Lee certainly didn't deserve it. And neither did she, she decided! This would be step one of her 'trying to get over Sasuke' program, "Lee-san! Lee-san, wait up!"

Rock Lee's head snapped up in surprise as Sakura came bounding over, "Yes?"

Sakura smiled up at him, "Lee-san? Would you…like to go to the dance with me?"

Author's Ending Rant- Do I even need to post Lee's answer?! O.o; Of course he says yes!

All right! We've got some couples shaping up for the dance already! And…of course, Shikamaru's got problems! n.n; Poor guy…but…it's just too fun!

But nothing is yet set in stone! :D Kukukuku…::Evil laughter::

And as for you, Chubby! ::Pries Chouji off of Chaotic Demon:: NO! No going out with people not in the ficcie!

::Chouji:: oU.Uo Awww, PLEASE?! Pretty pretty please?

As always, R&R! Thanks, guys!


	9. Ode And Requiem

Author's Opening Rant-As always, I'll start with a great big THANK YOU to all my reviewers! This story would have stopped a long time ago without you guys. I LOVE YOU ALL! n.n

Now this is going to basically be the Naruto and Sasuke chapter—no, not yaoi. The fight between Shino and Sasuke took a whole chapter, and so will this. Besides, the boys are basically the two main characters of Kishimoto's _Naruto_. Not to mention my personal two favorite characters!

This got typed up along with Ch8 because in my mind—and what a scary place THAT is!—they happen at about the same time. So, sorry for the delay that caused.

Chapter 9- Ode and Requiem 

A strong wind tugged at Uchiha Sasuke's thin raven bangs, brushing them back and forth in front of his eyes. He stood at the summit of one of Konoha's tallest buildings, his back turned on the continued celebrations of that ridiculous Leaf Festival. His Konoha headband, the thing that distinguished him as an adult and a full-fledged ninja in the eyes of his fellow villagers, lie stuffed in his back pouch. His hands rested within his pockets, thumbs sticking out over the fabric. He seemed completely stoic, silent, and statuesque as he stood there, trying to ignore the scents and sounds of the festival that still floated up to him.

Was he sorry that he had yelled at Sakura? No. Not really. He had warned her time and again, but she still had to open her mouth about it. In his mind, she had gotten exactly what she had deserved. Hopefully, that would be the end of everyone trying to get him to enjoy this foolishness.

Sasuke sighed to himself, eyes gazing out over the houses. His thoughts over this past week had been a jumble of past and present, and for the time being, he was content to allow his mind to wander through blessed nothingness. That was until a very harsh and familiar voice called out behind him.

"Sasuke." It was more of a snarl than anything, and Sasuke didn't have to turn around to see the face that matched that tone. He could just picture Uzumaki Naruto's face, contorted by anger, threateningly watching him.

A strange smirk came over the Uchiha's face, almost grateful for the distraction, "What is it you want…dobe?"

Spiky blonde hair also swayed at the mercy of the wind, freed from the blue fabric and metal headband that was carelessly shoved into his jacket pocket. Naruto glared at Sasuke's back, a glare so venomous that it was a small miracle that the Uchiha symbol didn't suddenly catch on fire, "Asshole."

"She told you?" Sasuke's smirk quickly vanished.

"She didn't tell me a damned thing. She didn't really have to." Naruto's eyes pierced through Sasuke like heated daggers. The blonde shinobi slowly took a step closer to his teammate, sandals crunching loudly on the rooftop, "All I know is that you upset her, and that's more than enough to piss me off!"

Sasuke scoffed, "Moron."

"Sasuke! Tell me what you did to Sakura-chan!" Naruto's voice echoed from the heights, "Did you know you made her cry?! Do you know she thinks you hate her now?!"

The Uchiha heir's voice was far softer, nearly lost to the whistling of the wind, "Fine. Let her think whatever in the hell she wants to. Just tell her to leave me alone."

It was a good thing that Sasuke was so fast; otherwise, Naruto's fist would have gone squarely into the back of his head, "You jackass! You're dead!" The enraged shinobi charged at his friend, fists swinging. But Sasuke was able to effortlessly dodge, popping up behind Naruto, hands still lazily resting in his pockets. This of course only drove Naruto crazy, and the blonde whirled in an attempt to kick Sasuke's head right off.

Sasuke ducked the kick, throwing himself forward at Naruto. The fox-boy fell backwards as Sasuke's shoulder slammed into his chest, "Dobe."

Naruto took a moment to recover from the blow, glaring dangerously up at the raven haired Uchiha, "I…I dunno what your damned problem is, Sasuke…but I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"You couldn't kick my ass if I was tied up, drugged out, pinned down, and half dead." A strange little smirk came over Sasuke's face again. When he was focused on throwing punches and flinging insults, his mind seemed more at ease.

Naruto, however good this was for the Uchiha, was not amused. His temper quickly got the better of him, and he wound up shouting something he knew he really shouldn't have, "You big baby! I'll bet you just love all the sympathy you get because you miss your parents! You're just doing this all for attention, aren't you, Baby-Sasuke?!"

There was suddenly a loud crunch, and Naruto felt as if a wrecking ball had just collided with his cheek.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Sasuke's demeanor again shifted dangerously fast, from cocky to enraged. He had never really hit anyone that hard before, and found that his knuckles were sore from the impact, "You think I like things the way they are?! You…you'll never understand!"

Naruto lifted a hand to rub his cheek, turning his head to spit out some of the blood that had pooled in his mouth from the force of Sasuke's punch, "Hey…I don't have any parents either. Do you see me carrying on with some Pity Party?"

"You're not like me."

"Yeah, I'm not. I'm not an asshole."

"Shut up…" Sasuke glared death at Naruto, shaking onyx orbs seizing the latest victim of his anger. Now he was taking this fight seriously. "Just…shut up!!" he lunged at Naruto, easily overtaking the fox-boy before he could dodge, and driving his heel into Naruto's stomach.

The blonde shinobi felt the air forced from his lungs. Thinking as quickly as he could manage, he latched onto Sasuke's ankle and twisted. The Uchiha flinched from the pain, but couldn't free his leg from his opponent's grip. Naruto then shifted under Sasuke's weight, forcing himself onto his feet and dragging Sasuke down. Sasuke moved a hand underneath him to keep his head from hitting the roofing, glaring up at Naruto as the blonde spoke, "You're…you're so weak, Sasuke! Picking on Sakura-chan…when all she wants to do is help you!"

"I don't want her help!" Sasuke growled, flipping his body around and sending his free leg into Naruto's back. The force of the blow caused Naruto to loose his grip on Sasuke's ankle, and Sasuke hopped back a safe distance to prepare for the next attack.

Naruto's eyes flickered like cold blue fire as he sized up his opponent, "She cares about you! I'll never understand why, but she does!" His fists clenched tightly as he again charged for a frontal assault on the Uchiha; but Sasuke was through playing around. Sasuke's eyes changed from an icy onyx shade to a brilliant crimson as he activated his Sharingan. In one swift move, the Uchiha heir was able to side-step Naruto's obvious attack, and sweep his legs out from under him. Naruto went sailing from the rooftop, falling the great distance to the ground and crashing into a lonely festival booth. Several of the villagers nearby stopped to stare at the great racket and see what had caused it. Sasuke easily jumped from the roof, rebounding off of a few other buildings to slow his descent and landed softly, cat-like on his feet. Naruto emerged from the rubble, eyes squinted in pain from the fall—he had, after all, just fallen from one of Konoha's tallest buildings! --But he still managed to get to his feet.

"I never asked for her to care." Sasuke had calmed himself somewhat, though still worked up enough to finish the brawl, "It's her own damned fault. And I definitely never asked for her stupid pity."

"Asshole…" Naruto wiped a thin trail of blood from his forehead onto his jacket sleeve, "You're gonna pay…for making Sakura-chan cry like that…"

"Try it" a pair of angry Sharingan glared down at his opponent. Sasuke was so focused on the Naruto in front of him, that the three Naruto behind him easily grabbed the Uchiha and held him still. While falling, Naruto had quickly performed his patented Kage Bushin no Jutsu before he had hit the booth, and now, his clones held Sasuke tightly, allowing the blonde shinobi to get in more than a few good hits. Sasuke was at first stunned by the clones, but he quickly reclaimed his anger. He wrenched a foot free from their grasp, and sent a kick right into Naruto's head. The fox-boy reeled, only slightly, but enough to force him to drop the Bushin no Jutsu. As the spare Narutos disappeared, Sasuke went back on the offensive, charging bare-fisted and full force at Naruto. Naruto blocked what he could, and countered as well against the onslaught.

The two engaged in a serious taijutsu brawl right in the middle of the streets, amidst a small, yet growing, crowd. For the most part, though, Sasuke's superior maneuvers gave him the upper hand in the fight. But Naruto certainly wasn't pulling his punches. The both of them wound up combating through most of Konoha. As one backed away, the other would chase, and so forth until both boys were dashing through the streets, toppling over festival stands as they went by. But the ninjutsu was very few and far between: this was a good old-fashioned beat-down between Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. Both young ninjas so enraged at the other that neither could even think clearly enough to implement Ninjutsu techniques.

Crowds of surprised onlookers followed the fight, flooding the streets with 'ohhh's and 'ahhh's. Not a one of them could make heads or tails of it. The Leaf Festival had always been a peaceful celebration of Konoha's rich heritage, but now, two of the most promising ninjas of the era were acting as if a war had been declared between them.

It was an exhausting fight on both sides. Naruto would not back down, and Sasuke would not calm down. After a good long while, there was a pause in the fight. Knuckles bloody, faces sore, panting for breath, Sasuke and Naruto glared at one another in silent disgust. The crowd closed in around them as they came to something of a standstill. They stood on even ground, in the middle of a main street, not more than an arm's distance away from each other. Keeping up the chakra for his Sharingan was starting to take some kind of toll on Sasuke, and he gradually allowed his eyes to return to normal. Naruto wheezed for air. He could easily release the Kyuubi chakra stored within him, and take Sasuke out in no time. But somehow…it wasn't enough. He wanted to hurt Sasuke, REALLY hurt Sasuke, so that the asshole would know exactly how Sakura-chan had felt. But there was something strange about the Uchiha heir's expression. As the battle went on, it seemed to soften into it usual cold and apathetic look.

But with the pause, Sasuke's mind had time to recall exactly why they were fighting. Instantly, his lip curled into a snarl as he took up the borrowed taijutsu stance of Rock

Lee, "Well? Is that all you have, loser?"

Naruto hesitated to respond. Clueless as he was about most things, the change in his opponent's expression was easy to catch. The blonde shinobi's eyebrows furrowed in a mixture of confusion and thought, "…"

"Well?!" Sasuke demanded louder, "What are you waiting for?!"

Again, Naruto said nothing.

Sasuke didn't like this. He wanted to fight. He wanted so badly to take out the aggression that had built up inside of him over it all. He didn't care if it was against Naruto, Sakura, Lee, Kakashi—hell, even Itachi! —He just wanted to fight until exhaustion, "Are you a coward all of a sudden, Naruto?! You want revenge on me for making Sakura cry? Then come at me!!"

"No." Naruto relaxed his stance, gingerly moving his left hand to grasp at his aching right shoulder.

Sasuke's eyes widened, either from the shock of the blonde's refusal, or the fear that he would be left to his own thoughts again, "Wh…what?!"

"I'm not fighting you anymore, Sasuke." Naruto's eyes were uncharacteristically cold, "I won't give you the satisfaction of a fight." Yes, of course every cell in his little blonde body was screaming to just run over there and punch Sasuke in his face so much that no girl would ever fall in love with him ever again. But if he continued this fight, he would only be giving Sasuke exactly what he wanted. Naruto stared at the beaten and bloodied Uchiha with a gaze that penetrated all doubting and bluffing, giving Sasuke no opportunity to be skeptical about his intentions. It was possibly the most mature, yet the cruelest, thing Naruto had done so far in his young life, "You wanna sob and mope about your family…go lock yourself back up in that house, and don't come back out."

It seemed that the very mention of his family had become so taboo lately. Sasuke forced whatever chakra he had left into his eyes and re-activated his Sharingan, his voice again hissing with detestation, "Naruto…!"

"Go back to feeling sorry for yourself, Sasuke!" Naruto screamed, causing the crowd around them to back away, "I hope…I hope you just die alone! Baby-Sasuke!" To the utter astonishment of his opponent, Naruto turned around, and limped away. As he went, Naruto fished his leaf headband out of his pocket and secured it back on his head. A section of the crowd parted for the fox-boy, the villagers looking on in amazement over the whole ordeal.

"Naruto, don't you dare walk away from me!" Sasuke would have ran right after him and kicked him while his back was turned, but truthfully, neither of them were in any condition to be running at the moment, "Naruto!! Come back here! I'm not finished with you yet!"

The blonde shinobi did his best to ignore Sasuke's voice as he slowly made his way through the crowd. This was good. This would really hurt Sasuke to his core…this would be enough.

Sasuke's entire face went red with anger and aggravation, his teeth clenching so tightly that his already bleeding lip began gushing even worse, "NA-RU-TOOOOO!!!" Again, his opponent, his 'friend', was unresponsive. Sasuke's eyes focused on Naruto's back. How dare he…how dare HE of all people preach to the Uchiha heir!! The orange-clad ninja gradually faded from Sasuke's sight, leaving the crowd to gawk at the remaining fighter for answers. They received none; only a few strangled sounds of irritation from the Uchiha, who was now so blinded with rage that he failed to even notice the crowd around him. Whatever ache was shaking Sasuke's body was brushed aside, and the raven-haired ninja dropped down and began pummeling the street with his already sore knuckles. This frustration…was going to kill him…

"Damn you, Naruto!! **_DAMN YOU!!!_**"

Author's Ending Rant- n.n I do so love angst! Especially Sasuke-angst! And I love it when Naruto borrows a clue from somewhere and acts mature/cool/awesome!

Well? Do we think Naruto has sufficiently gotten back at Sasuke for Sakura? Well, I do, anyway. Mental torture is so much worse than physical pain. Even Naruto figured that out! Good fox-boy! ::Tosses Naruto a bowl of Ramen::

And don't ask me why I decided to have them fight with their headbands off. It just kinda…seemed right. Like, I didn't want them wearing their headbands when they were both acting like such children.

Awww. But now the little dobe is all beaten up. I wonder, who-oh-whoever will help heal him and bandage him?! n.n Mwaa-haa-haaa…You'll have to wait until next time to find out!

BTW—have you noticed that 'dobe' is one of my favorite words? I'll TRY to use it less, I promise!


	10. After The Storm

Author's opening Rant- Ohhh, my gosh, you guys are far too kind! o0.0o I was so happy to read your reviews after the last chapter, I can't even begin to thank you all enough. Thank you, thank you, a million times, thank you all so much for supporting my little ficcie. It means so very much to me.

Anyway; this chapter will be—surprisingly!—mostly about Hinata! I wonder why! Mostly, but not entirely! I do need to get some comedy out of my system after that fight, you know!

**Chapter 10- After The Storm**

"And then! And then, and then and then, she asked me if I would MIND going to the dance with her, Gai-sensei! If I would mind!! So then I said yes!! Well…at first, I said, 'hummina hummina hummina hummina…' but, but THEN I said yes!" it hadn't been more than a few hours since Rock Lee had agreed to go with Haruno Sakura to the Leaf Festival dance, and this was already his sixteenth time retelling the tale to his sensei. Tenten and Neji stood off to the side of the Green-clad duo, scowling, already very sick of hearing this story.

"Ohhh, Lee!" for the sixteenth time, his sensei was driven to tears of joy, "Your hard work and persistence have paid off! I am so very proud of you!"

The sight of his teacher in tears only drove Lee into tears, "G-Gai-sensei…"

"Lee…"

A sunset. Waves crashing against the shore. Teacher and pupil exchanged a teary hug—for the sixteenth time—sobbing with happiness.

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

Tenten could just feel the bile rising in her throat, and she gagged at the pair of them. Why…why in the name of heaven did they always, always have to carry on like that?! Neji had just closed his eyes in some desperate attempt to shut them out. Eventually, the two sobbing ninjas pulled themselves away. Gai straightened up, wiping his eyes on his sleeve before he could speak, "That's the youthful spirit, Lee! When you go to this dance with your most precious person, you dance until your heart is flooded with emotion!"

"Oh god…" Neji was beginning to catch the same feeling of nausea that had Tenten gagging. Gai and Lee were just so…so…so Gai and Lee-ish.

Lee stared up at his teacher for a good long while, inspired as usual. But at once, a thought hit him like a ton of bricks, "Ohh...Ohhhhhhh…uh-oh."

Now that the two of them had calmed down somewhat, Tenten was able to address them without feeling sick, "Something wrong, Lee?"

"Heh…I was so caught up with asking Sakura-san to the dance…" Lee smiled nervously over at his teammates, a slight sweat drop sliding from his head, "That I forgot…that I don't know how _to_ dance!" Lee laughed at his own foolishness as his two teammates stared at him, wondering how someone could actually forget that they didn't know how to dance.

But, just to be sure this was specifically a Lee thing, Tenten leaned over and whispered in Neji's ear, "Uhh…you know how to dance, don't you?"

"Of course I do." Neji whispered back, "Do you think I'm as dumb as him?" Pale eyes went back to the still laughing Lee as Tenten shook her head to answer.

"There's no need to worry, Lee!" Gai gave his mini-clone a big thumbs up, his teeth sparkling with an audible 'ping', "Let your Sensei teach you another lesson! Dancing no Jutsu!" Lee turned back to his teacher with newfound hope shining in his eyes.

"Dancing…no Jutsu?" an eyebrow rose on the Hyuuga's face, curious as to what his insane teacher was thinking, but pretty sure that it would turn out horrendous as always.

"**Behold!**" Gai shouted as he hopped back to place some distance between himself and his pupils. Lee watched, flipping a tiny notebook out so he could take notes on the supposed 'Jutsu'. Tenten's eyes locked on her teacher in severe interest; she had never heard of a Dancing no Jutsu before. Gai chuckled to himself, knowing that he now had the full attention of all thee of his students. And then came the dance. Both arms went into the air, flailing, almost like a willow's branches in a breeze. Gai twisted at his hips, back and forth, his rear sticking out with the motion. Every so often, a foot lifted to move. And apparently, facial expressions were a vital part of the dance, because Gai's face was twisted right along with his body.

The first thought in Neji's mind was that he looked like some poor, dying ostrich.

"Yes! Dance with all of your youthfulness, Lee!" Gai managed to shout through changing facial expressions, Lee jotting down every last detail and even sketching a few stick figures to show exactly what dancing looked like.

The taijutsu master glanced up from his notes and finally noticed the increasingly sick looks on Neji and Tenten's faces, "This…is dancing?"

"This is NOT dancing." Tenten's tone was deadpan. She even shivered as Gai did something of a twirl in front of them.

"This is madness." Neji added, fairly sure that Gai needed to be locked away in a padded cell somewhere. The crazed Jounin paid no attention to their discussion, only continued his little display.

Tenten shook her head out, hands limply falling palm up as she sighed in exasperation. She reached over and grabbed the notebook from Lee, tossing it over her shoulder to Neji, who barely caught it out of surprise, "Lee. No. NO! Do _not_ dance like this!"

"But, Tenten…" both thick eyebrows rose sadly.

"Come here." She sighed again, taking hold of Lee's wrist and pulling him along behind her. Neji watched them, both pale eyes wide as he still clung to Lee's notebook. Tenten made her way over to Gai, giving her sensei a shove to get him to stop 'dancing'. Once Gai had moved aside, she turned to face Rock Lee, "Okay. One hand on my hip, the other one holding my right."

"Huh?" Lee's eyes fluttered in surprise, his face turning slightly red.

"You want to learn how to dance, or what?" she reached over and pulled his hand onto her hip, taking a firm hold of his free hand with her right.

By now, Neji had crushed Lee's notebook between his hands. Not that he was…jealous or anything. Never. It…had just surprised him--that was all. Gai came over to Neji's side, smirking, a thumb tapping against his chin, "Ahh, you see? None can resist the cute and charming Lee!" This earned him a hard look from Neji, the notebook getting one final tear to finish it off.

"Now then," The lesson went on between the meticulous Tenten and the flustered Lee, "I'll lead for now, but the guy is supposed to lead. It's really simple. Just step to the side, then bring your feet together." She demonstrated by taking a step, pulling Lee along with her. She took another step, backwards this time, "See? Easy, right? Just make sure you don't step on her feet, and don't be so stiff. Relax."

A few more steps into it, and a wide smile spread across his face, "I think I get it!"

"Good." Tenten couldn't help but smile back. This earned the shredded pieces of Lee's notebook another few tears. Not jealous, though. Definitely not.

Just behind the Hyuuga and his beaming teacher, a tiny voice spoke up, "Neji no nii-chan? You…asked to see me?" Neji and Gai turned, both catching sight of Hinata shyly peeking out from behind a tree. Hinata had found a note tacked to her door early this morning from Neji, asking to see her. It had taken a better part of the day, but she had finally tracked her older cousin down.

"Ahh, Hinata-sama." Neji smiled lightly, shoving the remains of Lee's notebook into Gai's hands. He wandered over to the shy kunoichi, checking a few times to make sure that no one in his cell was eavesdropping before addressing his cousin, "Hinata-sama, I need you to meet me somewhere the night of the dance."

"Huh?" Hinata's wide pale eyes fluttered a few times.

Neji's smile slowly seemed to melt into a smirk, "The night of the dance. Meet me under the black cherry tree, by the fish catching booth."

Hinata stared up at him for a moment. She knew exactly the spot he was talking about, but it seemed very strange for him to ask that,"…why?"

"You will see when you get there."

"Ohh…" it was sounding stranger and stranger all the while. Hinata's eyes focused on Neji's face, trying to figure out just what he had in mind.

But both Hyuugas' attention suddenly went back to Lee, "OWCH! Tenten! That was my foot!" Neji felt the color run from his face as he caught sight of the weapons master's eyes locked on him as if he were a red and white target. Tenten hadn't accidentally stepped on Lee's foot; she had _stomped_ on it. Clearly, she had much better hearing than Neji had thought. Hinata took that as her cue to leave, hurrying back over to the festival grounds before a flurry of kunai could catch up with her.

Akimichi Chouji was a man on a mission. A man on an IMPOSSIBLE mission, it seemed. He had asked just about every female in Konoha to be his date, and when he wasn't being laughed at or screamed at, he was being beaten to a pulp. But he wouldn't give in that easily! He had sworn to bring a date with him to the dance and he'd do it, even if he had to kidnap some unwilling girl. As he trudged through the streets, Chouji noticed Haruno Sakura making her way through the crowd. He hadn't asked her yet, had he? Chouji smiled to himself, figuring this could very well be his last chance for a date. He waved over to the pink-haired kunoichi, hurrying past a few villagers, "Sakura! Hey, Sakura!"

She perked up at the sound of her name, offering a nervous wave back to the chubby shinobi, "Uhhh, hi, Chouji."

"Sakura! Will you go to the festival dance with me?" he fidgeted, waiting for an answer.

"Ohhh." Sakura stared at him for a second, then pleasantly smiled down at him, "I'm sorry, Chouji. But, I already agreed to go with Lee-san."

A grimace quickly overtook Chouji's face, "Awww! You too, Sakura?!" He turned to leave, shoulders slumped, heels dragging on the ground, head bowed against his chest. He heard a faint apology from Sakura behind his back, but waved it away without looking at her. Slowly, the chubby ninja made his way over to the bridge. There he found Shikamaru again leaned against the railing, staring down at the water. Chouji stepped over to his friend, sighing as he leaned his back on the rail to stare sadly up at the sky, "Pick one yet?"

"Nope." Shikamaru answered, not looking up, "Find one yet?"

"Nope." Chouji replied without looking at his friend. The boys exchanged a mutual sigh, Chouji beating Shikamaru to his favorite word, "Troublesome."

Into this sad scene of pity stepped Iruka, out for a calming walk away from the boisterous festivities that had consumed most of Konoha. He stared over at his two former pupils as he crossed the bridge, "Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji. Haven't seen you both in a while. Hello there."

"Hello Iruka-sensei." They answered in unison with all the enthusiasm of zombies.

Iruka propped himself up against the railing along with them, "Something the matter, boys?"

Shikamaru just scoffed. He doubted anyone could understand or help out with his decidedly strange relationship problems. But Chouji glanced over at his former teacher, "Sensei…? How do you get girls to like you?"

"Ahh, I see." Iruka's face flustered ever so slightly at the question, "I'm afraid you're asking the wrong guy, Chouji." Iruka scratched at his nose, a little embarrassed to admit that he had had absolutely no luck in finding anyone to attend the dance with him as well.

Chouji's eyes went to his feet for a second. Then all at once, the plump ninja took in a deep breath and straightened himself up, both hands balling into fists, "Well, there is ONE girl left!" Fire sparked in his eyes as Chouji stormed off of the bridge, muttering something about women. Both Iruka and Shikamaru watched him carrying on in awe.

Once the Akimichi heir was out of sight, Iruka turned to Shikamaru for an explination. The shadow-wielding shinobi looked just as clueless, "What…the hell was that all about?"

In the thick of the festival crowd, Shino was preparing to keep his promise. Hinata needed help asking out Naruto, and damn it, he was going to figure out a way to do it. His plan thus far was to transform himself into Hinata, then find the oblivious blonde and ask him out. It seemed simple enough, and it would spare Hinata all the blushing and fidgeting of asking him herself. Shino turned a street corner, eyes playing over the crowd behind his dark lenses. Soon enough he spotted Naruto, standing around doing nothing in particular, not a scratch on him, not a hair out of place. Shino ducked quickly out of sight, sighing as he made the hand signs for the Henge no Jutsu, "Hinata…you had better appreciate this." A loud popping sound and a plume of smoke as the Jutsu went to work. Shino, now disguised perfectly as Hinata, gradually made his way over to Naruto, fighting the urge to stick his hands into his pockets as he walked. He cleared his throat, able to even impersonate Hinata's voice flawlessly, "Uhm…Naruto-kun?"

Naruto's head jerked quickly onto the Shino/Hinata. A wide grin spread across the blonde shinobi's face as he frantically waved over to him/her, "Hinata-chan! Over here!" Shino paused a moment. Hinata-_chan_? Since when did Naruto call her that? "Hey, hey! Hinata-chan! You got a sec? I wanna talk to you!" Naruto called out as he came bounding over.

"N-Naruto-kun…" something seemed very off about this. Shino stared at Naruto, eyes scrutinizing every last detail. 'Hinata-chan', and so anxious to speak with her, plus he was standing in the middle of the festival without causing any kind of trouble. A slow smirk of recognition came over Shino's disguised face as he allowed himself to burry his hands in his pockets. "Heh." Even more disturbing, Shino spoke with his own voice, still using the face of shy little Hinata, "You are not Naruto at all, are you?"

"GYAHH!" Naruto backed away at the eerily deep voice coming from tiny Hinata. Very unexpectedly, a puff of blue-gray smoke encircled Naruto: it was a transformation being dropped. Once the smoke cleared, it was revealed exactly who was parading around as Naruto: Inuzuka Kiba, "Who the hell are you?! What did you do to Hinata?!"

Shino's eye twitched, and he also allowed his disguise to drop away, "Kiba…"

"Shino?!" Kiba howled at his partner. Clever as he was, Kiba had thought that if he went around posing as Naruto, Hinata would eventually ask him out. Then he could let his disguise slip, and Hinata would be all his. But it seemed his plan wasn't as clever as he had thought, "You jerk! What do you think you're doing?! You're messing up all of my plans!"

The bug shinobi felt a sweat drop slide down his head as Kiba continued to growl at him, "This…is going to be harder than I thought…"

Truth be told, the real Naruto was far from the busy crowds of the festival. He was at the training grounds, the place where he, Sasuke, and Sakura had first officially become ninjas. Bright cerulean orbs watched as the sun set, leaning up against one of the training logs for support. Naruto was still a mess from his fight with Sasuke. His shoulder ached uncontrollably, his left leg was dragging for whatever reason, there was a very sharp pain in his ribs, and he was covered with scratches and both his and Sasuke's blood. Naruto just watched as the sky turned golden. He felt that somehow, he had let Sakura down. True, Sasuke was probably more pissed off than anything at him right now, but…Naruto hadn't actually won that fight, had he? The little fox-boy let out a sigh, wincing at the added pain that caused. _"Stupid fox…" _he thought bitterly to himself, _"You're never around when I need you, huh? Hurry up and heal me already…" _Naruto knew well enough that one night's sleep would have him good as new again, but the Kyuubi could lend a little help just to get him home. He continued cursing out the demon sealed within him, watching the sun sink lower and lower.

By sheer coincidence, Hinata had decided to cut through the training grounds on her way home from meeting Neji. She didn't even know why; it took longer to go that way, anyway. And that was when she caught sight of him, beaten and sulking, bathed in the dying sunlight. Whatever shyness that sprang up at the usual sight of Naruto was quickly shoved aside. Hinata hurried over towards him, both of her arms held up defensively in front of her, "Naruto-kun? Are…are you okay?"

"Huh?" Naruto slowly came out of his daze, turning to see Hinata. A smile came across his face as a reflex, "Hinata! Hey! What're you doing all the way out here, huh?"

"You're…all bloody." She pointed out to him, just incase he hadn't noticed. It took a great deal of self-control to keep her fingers from poking timidly together as she spoke.

"Eh-Heh, Ohh yeah." Naruto's eyes squinted into happy little crescents as his smile widened, stretching those curious little whisker marks on his cheeks, "That's nothin'. Got into a little fight. Doesn't even hurt." He was lying, of course. For whatever reason, Hinata always seemed to get so upset when he was hurt. While he didn't understand it, he certainly didn't want to upset her, so he figured a few lies here and there wouldn't do any harm.

Hinata's face turned the shade of a healthy tomato. He was smiling at her, and being so kind to her...and damn if that sunlight didn't make him look even more handsome. She rapidly turned her back on him, her head sinking between her shoulders, eyes clamping shut. She wanted to run away and hide! She wanted to faint! It overwhelmed Hinata to see him like this, clearly covering his wounds for her benefit. Was it possible that, somewhere in that empty blonde head, Naruto actually did have some feelings for the Hyuuga girl? The thought only increased Hinata's reluctance to turn around and continue the conversation. Behind her, Naruto made an inquisitive little sound of curiosity. He wondered why he was suddenly facing her back. Weird girl. Hinata mentally commanded her feet to keep still, moving her hands away from her face to shuffle though her pockets. She finally found the little container of ointment in her pocket, holding it out as she turned back to face him. No chickening out this time, right? "H-H-Here…N-Naruto-kun…"

"Ahh! I remember this stuff!" he instantly recognized the tiny white container. "Thanks, Hinata." Naruto reached a hand over to take it, but quickly withdrew it in pain. Damned, stupid Sasuke. Naruto's eyes closed lightly for a moment to concentrate. Hopefully, that would help alleviate the pain, even slightly.

His eyes snapped open as he felt a finger very gently place some of the ointment onto a cut across his cheek. He glanced over at Hinata, who was so red in the face that she seemed ready to boil over. "I…you…pain, and…I thought…it…. uhmm…" words came tumbling out of Hinata's mouth without any kind of form or cohesion. Her gaze went immediately to her feet so she wouldn't have to face his curious blue eyes.

Slowly, a smile came back to the fox-boy's face, "Thanks." Somehow, he had understood what she was trying to explain between all those little nervous, stuttering pauses. Hinata smiled back at him, still staring at her feet as her fingers began poking together. Naruto watched the familiar motion, knowing that it meant she was very nervous about something. But, what did she have to be nervous about? Her eyes went back onto the blonde as he let out a short giggle, "You don't have to act so shy all the time, Hinata! I'm not gonna gnaw your arm off or nothing like that, you know!"

"Naruto-kun…" this of course only increased the color in her cheeks. That strangely fox-like grin came over Naruto's face, and Hinata felt her own smile growing. Her pale eyes then fell on his shoulder, which he seemed to be nursing more than anything else. Very hesitantly, Hinata stepped in closer to get a good look at his arm, all the while, Naruto's wide blue eyes watching her every movement. "Naruto-kun…? D-does…this hurt…?" a hand lifted to gingerly touch his shoulder, and she received a muffled 'oww' in response. That was a pretty clear yes. Luckily, being in a cell with Kiba had taught Hinata to carry bandages around with her at all times, just incase. The timid Hyuuga pulled a spare roll of gauze from her shuriken pouch, creating a makeshift sling for Naruto's arm. Once she had tied it securely around his arm, Hinata paused. The sling would have to be tied around his neck to keep his arm aloft, and that would mean getting much closer to Naruto than she had expected. The blonde shinobi understood this as well, and innocently leaned over, stretching his neck to make it a little easier for her. It felt as if a golf ball had lodged itself in the back of Hinata's throat as she leaned in towards him, and her hands shook so badly that it was difficult to tie the gauze. The shy Hinata felt her cheeks burning as she realized just how close they were; his breath was warm against her, and he smelled like a forest full of autumn leaves. Even Naruto flustered, turning his eyes away as if there was something terribly impressive behind the training logs. He did like hanging around Hinata after all, she was a nice girl, and she never seemed to judge him like the others did. And now she pretty much had her arms around his neck, and…his face was practically on her chest. Naruto gulped slightly, hoping his eyes didn't wander back towards her. Once the gauze was tied off and Naruto's arm was set, Hinata pulled herself from his side. She leaned back against one of the other logs, her face so red that it burned, taking very deep breaths and trying to keep her heart out of her throat. Could she help it if she was this shy?

Naruto rubbed at his face with his good arm, trying to rid his own cheeks of whatever flush was left behind. His voice was unusually nervous sounding as he let out a little laugh, "Heh! That feels a whole lot better! Thanks again!" Hinata couldn't even try speaking; she just nodded back at him and gulped at the nervousness overwhelming her. The sun sank ever lower, and the two Gennin stood in a peaceful silence, watching as the sky's light faded from gold to purple.

After she had recovered from being so very close to Naruto, Hinata let her gaze wander back over to him, "Naruto-kun? Have…have you found…a-anyone to go to the d-dance with, yet…?"

"Nah." Naruto's expression saddened. This dance was turning his whole cell into such a wreck that even he was starting to detest the idea of it, "I don't think I'm even gonna go." Hinata's lip quivered. That was certainly not the answer she wanted to hear. Again, pale white eyes trained on the ground sadly. Naruto shifted as best he could manage, turning to face her, "Hey, Hinata? How come you keep asking me that?"

"H-huh?" nervously, she met his gaze. She tried to be strong, to not stutter and shiver bashfully, but Naruto had the most hypnotizing blue eyes, she thought to herself, that she had ever seen.

"You keep asking me about who I'm taking to the dance. How come?" clueless as ever, Naruto stood there to await an answer.

It was too good to be true. That was the first thought in her mind. The second thought was that she now had to manage to ask him without melting into a puddle of ninja goo. Hinata forced her hands to her sides to stop herself from fidgeting, then turned to Naruto. She mustered every last ounce of courage she held within herself, trying to smile as she spoke, but she never got the chance. Once again, Hinata's efforts were thwarted as another voice called over at them, "Naruto! There you are!"

"Sakura-chan…?" Naruto's gaze went from one kunoichi to the other, wondering what the pink-haired Haruno wanted from him.

That was it then. Hinata figured that Naruto's attention would be completely gone now that Sakura had shown up, just like always. She sighed miserably to herself, leaning against the log a little while longer before slinking away. Not that he would notice. Hinata felt her stomach churning in disappointment as she headed back home.

Sakura hadn't even noticed Hinata, or the bandages, as she came bounding over to her teammate, "Naruto! I have been looking all over for you! Is it true? Did you and Sasuke really have a fight?"

"Sasuke…?" Naruto eyed her a moment; where was the 'kun' at the end of his name? "Well, yeah. We did."

Not that it was new for the boys to be fighting, but from what she had heard and from what she could see, this hadn't been one of their usual fights, "Are you out of your mind?! What did you do that for, Naruto?!"

"…I…did it for you, Sakura-chan." He blinked innocently at her. Had she so easily forgotten about how Sasuke had made her cry, or was revenge something that simply never crossed Sakura's harmless mind?

Sakura caught her breath in her throat. He didn't…really mean it the way it sounded, did he? The pink-haired ninja just sighed and shook her head, "Oh, Naruto…you idiot."

"Heh!" Naruto just smirked. He knew damn well that his feelings for her were one sided, and he knew that nothing he did would ever change that. But still, a 'thank you' would be nice to hear after tearing your shoulder out of the socket for a girl. Smiling over his rotten luck, Naruto turned to where he thought Hinata was still standing, "You hear that, Hinata? She treats me like—huh?" Bright blue eyes scanned the training ground quickly, a little surprised that she had left so suddenly…and, perhaps a little upset about it, "Where…did she go?" Naruto grimaced to himself as he felt an unfamiliar twinge in his heart. What more could he screw up today…?

Author's Ending Rant- LONGEST-CHAPTER-EVER! O.o;

::Dives out of range of the rocket launchers:: Don't shoot me! I know, I know, why can't Hinata and Naruto just get together? Because that isn't how the story goes, silly rabbits! And sorry if this chapter took so long to get out; Fluffy scenes take me much longer than funny ones. And I still don't think I got it right! u.u ; Dang it! Please Review and tell me if I've screwed it up too much!

Yes, yes, The "Teaching Lee to dance" idea is far from original, I know. But...damnit if it isn't funny! I just had to! And Neji and Tenten have some severe jealousy issues, huh? n.n

"Neji no nii-chan" means older brother Neji. Yes, technically they're cousins, but Hinata always calls him that.

Ohmigosh! I have over 50 reviews?! ::Just realized this!:: Ahh!! I can't believe it! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!

Until next update then!


	11. Pangs Of Life

Author's Opening Rant- A huge massive Thank You to all of my wonderful reviewers! Thanks to you, "Leaf Festival" is now 11 chapters long! Yay! This is incredible to me! I can't believe this story hasn't ended yet! Thank you all so very much for your kind reviews!

V.V; …I fear I am getting crazy with these chapter titles now. I should calm down. At this point, the ficcie (( Ficcie ficcie FICCIE! Mwaaa-haa-haa!)) has taken over and is spiraling out of control! It's become one of those things where, this is just the way it goes, and I don't feel as if I can control it any longer. Does this make sense to you? Or…am I really THAT nuts? O.o;

And yes, I am a retarded Fox—Just like Naruto-kun!—Timeshifter is absolutely right. It's "Nii-chan" not "No nii-chan" I apologize for my glaring stupidity!

Now then: SEVERE ANGST WARNING!! I may or may not have gone overboard with Sasuke-kun's scene…I dunno. I felt it was necessary. If that's not your thing, skip over it. Otherwise, Enjoy!

**Chapter 11- Pangs Of Life**

When there is no one around to vent your rage upon, inanimate objects tend to be the first to suffer. Objects like plates, floor mats, furniture, and walls—especially walls. The interior of the Uchiha estate was slowly beginning to resemble an ancient battleground as Sasuke tore at every and anything he could get his hands on. Furniture went toppling over, doors were wrenched free of their hinges, and there were so many holes in the walls from his fists that it really did look as if a war had been fought there. The fight with Naruto yesterday had disturbed him so greatly that he hadn't even bothered cleaning himself up, or bandaging a few of his wounds. Not that Sasuke was dragging himself on the floor, but he was in about the same sorry state as Naruto. The Uchiha had a very distinguished black bruise around his right eye, so large that the bruise even covered a section of his nose. His lip was split wide open and bleeding, and his ankle was aching terribly, either broken or severely twisted. In addition to that, he was cut up, bloody, aching all over and tired. But despite all of this, he had gone straight home, sat in complete darkness for a good long while, then went berserk on his own house. He hadn't even slept since the other night.

"_That damned Naruto…" _his thoughts were murderous as he struggled to tear another door out of its frame, _"…what the hell does he know about me?! NOTHING!! He has no right to open his goddamn mouth! That spoiled little brat!"_ The door unhinged at last, and Sasuke gave it a toss straight at a wall. There was a loud crash as the door left yet another gouge on the already pot-marked wall, and then silence, save for Sasuke's own panting. He had been destroying his house for however many hours non stop, and was beginning to wear down from the effort.

But each time he stopped, even for the briefest of moments, that voice crept right back into his mind, _"You…your heart. It will never heal…if you won't let it."_

"SHUT UP!" a dresser went flying across the room, the contents of the draws spilling out all over the floor as the dresser collided with another wall. Why was Sakura's voice haunting him like this? It kept echoing in the back of his head, as if trying to remind him of some degree of guilt, and it was driving him nuts. The wall closest to him became his punching bag again; already sore knuckles easily breaking through the wooden surface. His arms gradually began to ache more and more, but he knew exactly what another pause would bring.

Sasuke's arms stopped of their own free will, and the second voice tormenting him spoke up again, _"Hey…I don't have any parents either. Do you see me carrying on with some Pity Party?" _ Sasuke roared with anger, furiously tearing the wall away with raw fingers. This was ridiculous. To drive the heir of the famous Uchiha clan to this degree of madness was no small feat, and Sasuke realized just how fanatical he was acting. But at all costs, he had to drive this out of his system, fight until his body gave out, or else risk having this much frustration built up inside of him for the rest of his life. After a while, it became clear that the wall in front of him wasn't going to be destroyed so easily, and a dull ache warned him that his fingers were now probably bleeding. That was fine. He couldn't feel much pain at the moment, only a sickening kind of numbness that wracked his whole body. Sasuke had to stop again, to catch his breath if nothing else. He suddenly became conscious of some warm liquid running down the side of his head. Leaning up against the half ruined wall, he reached a hand to his forehead, flinching as his fingers ran over a wide gash just under his bangs.

"_Heh…"_ Sasuke thought dully to himself with a wry chuckle, _"Now you see…that's why we have to wear those headbands! If you'd 've had it on, that wouldn't 've happened…" _He shook his head to clear the silly thought, slumping down slowly against the wall. His body simply didn't want to stand anymore, and Sasuke found himself seated against the wall, staring vacantly up at the untouched ceiling.

And again, as the silence overcame his ears, Sakura's voice filtered back into his mind, _"You…your heart. It will never heal…if you won't let it."_ Sasuke raised both hands to his head, in some attempt at blocking the voice out. His eyes shut, his teeth clenched, and his fingers threatened to rip two hands full of raven black hair out. And then, the thoughts all bombarded him at once.

"You wanna sob and mope about your family…go lock yourself back up in that house, and don't come back out."

"_Father! Look at the trees! Aren't they beautiful?"_

"_Sasuke-kun, I don't understand you."_

"Sasuke, wash your hands before you go to bed, young man! Or else you're not coming with your Father and I to the festival tomorrow. Don't you pout at me like that!"

"You big baby! I'll bet you just love all the sympathy you get because you miss your parents! You're just doing this all for attention, aren't you, Baby-Sasuke?!"

"_Not now, Sasuke. I'm trying to get your brother a good position in the ANBU. He'll make Captain one day, mark my words."_

"Sasuke! Tell me what you did to Sakura-chan! Did you know you made her cry?! Do you know she thinks you hate her now?!"

"_As I expected…you are my son…"_

"_You…your heart. It will never heal…if you won't let it."_

And then, the most sickening memory of all, the voice that singularly froze his heart and stopped his breathing,_ "Heh…foolish little brother…" _

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Sasuke screamed out loud to the empty house, "Shut up, everybody just shut the hell up!!" His voice echoed off of the walls, and then the silence came again. But this time, as if doing as they were commanded, the voices did not return. At that relief, Sasuke uncurled himself and stared up again. He took in a slow, deep breath, starting to work out the kinks in his brain. Okay…so clearly, he had **a lot** of crap to work out. Dark onyx eyes shifted, taking a good look at the wasteland he had made of his house. Since when was he this bad…? Sasuke forced his mind to think back, all the way back to the very last time he had attended the Festival with his parents. He had enjoyed it, hadn't he? Just as he had enjoyed every festival before then with them. Was that all this was; did he just miss his family that badly? Was it Naruto's nagging? Was it the fact that he seemed like the only Shinobi in all of Konoha who had lost so much? Or was it something else?

"_You…your heart. It will never heal…if you won't let it." _Almost on cue, the memory crept back in.

"I know…" he answered as if she were standing right there, "But…not right now. I'm too tired…" Heavy eyelids gradually slipped down as Sasuke fell asleep right there, on the floor amongst the mess, hoping his dreams might be a little sweeter than his reality.

For the past week, wherever Shizune seemed to go, a certain white-haired Jounin would pop up. Not that it was terribly annoying, but she found it odd that she of all people would catch the attention of Hatake Kakashi. However, Shizune just shrugged it off, and carried on with her daily duties of baby-sitting the often-delinquent Hokage.

Kakashi kept his vigil on her, careful to keep Shizune in his sight as he pretended to be absorbed in his all time favorite reading material. Not that he was…shy, to say. He simply had no idea how to approach such a thing. Or much practice. Kakashi faked a stretch, watching as Shizune gathered up an arm full of groceries and skittered away. The Jounin huffed, snapping his book shut. There would be a simple solution to all of this, clearly. Kakashi smirked to himself as the solution came to mind. Women liked knights in shining armor, right, to come and save them at the last moment? That settled it. The night of the dance, Kakashi would walk over to Shizune and ask her out, saving her at the last moment from spending a lonely night at the dance. Just like a knight! Yes, somehow in Kakashi's mind, this all made sense. And sadly, he was determined to see this plan out. Kakashi smirked again to himself, leaning up against the building behind him, and again opening _Come Come Paradise_, but actually reading this time. It'd all work out, one way or another.

Haruno Sakura had been scanning the building numbers in Konoha for an hour or so now, trying to find the house labeled Number 345. Why 345, when the Uchiha estate was Number 72? Because, as she had discovered after countless nagging pleas to Hyuuga Neji, the residents of house 345 were Rock Lee and his father. Sakura rounded the corner of this street for the third time, again huffing as the street numbers ended with 344. Sakura was just about ready to give up her search when she noticed a very tiny hovel squished at the end of the street, in-between the infuriating 344 and 346 on the next street over. She hadn't noticed it before, how very small it was compared to the other houses around it, and how it seemed to be overpowered by its surroundings. As she drew nearer, sure enough, there was a tiny '345' hanging just over the doorframe—this had to be Lee's house. Sakura paused a moment, taking one last opportunity to stare at the decidedly small house before she gave a sharp rap on the door.

"Coming!" a voice called from inside, unmistakably Lee's. As the door slid open, Sakura met the taijutsu master's look of utter shock with a kind smile, "S-Sakura-san?! What…what are you doing here?" Lee quickly whipped his head around, oddly trimmed bangs flailing as he checked to make sure she was actually knocking on HIS door, and this wasn't some heart-breaking mistake.

Sakura only smiled wider at the gesture, "I came to see you, Lee-san. Can I talk to you for a second?"

Lee stared at her in awe, already perfectly round eyes growing wider. All of a sudden, the older Gennin turned and smacked his head full force into the doorframe, which caught Sakura so badly by surprise that she nearly jumped away. Lee smiled at the now aching throb in his head, tears of joy streaming down his face, "It isn't a dream!!" He took a moment to regain himself, smiling despite the rather noticeable bump forming on his forehead, "Would you like to come inside, Sakura-san? A drink perhaps? Something to eat?"

"Oh, I just had dinner, Lee-san." Sakura smiled sheepishly at him, feeling as if he were starting to over-do it already. All she wanted to do was talk, not have a meal.

"Yes, of course." Lee stepped aside, allowing her room to enter his house, "But please, come inside. We just need to keep our voices down, if you do not mind. My father…is…. well, asleep."

"Sure." Sakura stepped inside, smiling at Lee. The house was even smaller on the inside than it had seemed on the outside. The pink-haired kunoichi glanced around, taking note of the few scraps of clothing littered on the floor. From a nearby room, she could hear someone snoring away, obviously the sleeping father that Lee had mentioned. Sakura took a seat at the tiny table, still grinning as Lee silently closed the door and followed after her.

Lee lowered his voice to a whisper as he sat down across from her, "I'm sorry for the mess. I was in the middle of cleaning up when you knocked."

"Oh, that's okay." Sakura whispered back, "My mom screams at me too if I leave a mess."

An unusually grim smirk touched across the taijutsu master's face, "Heh. That isn't it." He noticed a quizzical look cross Sakura's face, and felt that he should explain his curious comment, "I…well, my mother is not around anymore."

"Why not?"

"Oh, she died a very long time ago, Sakura-san. And father has been something of a wreck ever since…" Lee cast a sideways glance over at an empty sake bottle tossed carelessly onto the floor.

Sakura felt a twinge of sympathy pull at her heart. But the most disturbing thing about it, while Naruto and Sasuke could talk about their pasts with faces dimmed by sorrow, Lee wore a great big grin across his face. She wasn't sure whether or not he was forcing himself to smile for her, or if it had just become a conditioned reflex after all these years. Whichever the case, she could clearly see regret shining behind his dark eyes, "Ohh…Lee-san. I'm so sorry."

"No need to be sorry, Sakura-san!" he cheerily whispered back, resting an elbow on the table. Lee would never allow his own problems to affect Sakura, unlike a certain selfish Uchiha, he thought to himself. His eyes closed into happy little crescents, leaning over ever so slightly across the table towards her, "Don't trouble yourself over it. Now then, what did you wish to talk to me about?"

Sakura folded her hands in her lap and smiled back at him, "I just…wanted to thank you, Lee-san."

"For what?" Lee blinked in confusion at the kunoichi's statement.

"For agreeing to go with me to the dance." She felt her cheeks beginning to warm up as a light blush rose on her face, "It…it's important to me. So, thank you."

"Thank me?!" Lee leapt out of his seat, already forgetting his 'keep our voices down' rule, "Ohhh, no no no no no! I am the one who should be thanking you, Sakura-san!"

Sakura smiled sheepishly at his reaction, pressing a finger against her lips to motion for him to quiet down. Lee sent a quick glance at the door that concealed his father, sitting back down as he heard the loud snoring once again. The pink-haired Haruno shook her head, bright hair swaying with the action, "Well, anyway…I just…wanted to get that out. Sorry if I bothered you, Lee-san." She was far too used to Sasuke, who would have howled if she had randomly showed up at his house for no reason other than a 'thank you'. She slowly rose out of her seat, her smile only increasing at the sudden onset of clumsiness that attacked Lee as he also stood up.

"You are far too kind, Sakura-san!" Rock Lee stumbled over a few pieces of clothing on the floor, hurrying to open the door for her like a true gentleman.

Sakura flustered at all the special treatment, "Nah. I'm really not." She stared a moment at Lee's beaming face, happy that she had decided to go with him. This would be the end of it—she'd get over Sasuke if she had to force herself. And Lee was such a sweet guy, opening doors and tripping over himself to please her. This, she decided, would be a much happier way of life instead of always waiting around for the non-existent affection of Uchiha Sasuke. "Well then…I'll see you later, right?"

"Right." Lee answered, his voice far softer then a whisper. What could be said, the little bowl-headed Gennin was in bliss.

"Oh! The night of the dance, I'll meet you around Nightfall, okay?"

"Okay…"

Sakura flustered even more at the dreamy tone he had adapted, quickly covering her face with a hand, "Uhh, right then! See you later, Lee-san!"

"Yes, see you later." The smile stayed on Lee's face long after she had walked out and left for her own home. Despite the lingering ache he had caused to his own head, he was convinced that this was too good to be true. It had to be a dream. Nothing ever worked out quite this well for the taijutsu master, not even after all his training and hard work.

Lee sent another glance at the door to his father's room, sighing happily to himself for the first time in what felt like too long.

Author's Ending Rant- MWA-HAA! Lee Angst! Didn't see that one coming, eh? I know, I know, I took a little 'artist's liberty' with Lee's background. But remember, this is a FAN-FICTION! I could have these guys quoting Hamlet in tutus if I wanted to! And what's with Kakashi, I wonder! ::Evil smirk::

And yes, NejiTen is a GREAT couple. The only reason I don't focus on them too much is because I can't keep Neji in character!! V.V I dunno what my problem is with him! I play Sasuke on the angst side, Naruto on the oblivious side, but Neji's always just…there. O.o; Don't worry, though! He and Shika-kun are still owed a few fluffy scenes!

The dance draws ever nearer! What oh what will become of our sad little Gennin in the next chapter? You'll have to wait to find out!


	12. Thought Process

Author's Opening Rant- Thank you guys, each and every one of you, so, so, so much! You're reviews are too kind! Thank you, a million times, thank you! n.n

We're getting closer to the end—I think! I mean, the dance is probably gonna wind up split across a few chapters on it's own!—to this fiction. This saddens me! But I have to say, at this point, I'm VERY pleased with how it has been turning out!

And hey, maybe some day I'll write down my little theory of Rock Lee's domestic life. Why? It's ANGSTY!

Let's dive in then, shall we?

**Chapter 12- Thought Process**

Haruno Sakura woke after a night of restless sleep, thoughts turning over and over in her mind. Groggy green eyes stared up at her bare ceiling, pink strands lying tussled across her pillow. Sakura stretched lightly, her sheets rustling with the movement.

Her mind was tossing back and forth the events of the past week, and playing with the idea of the oncoming dance.

First of all, there was Lee. Sweet, wonderful, trip-over-himself-to-please-me Lee. Lee was the kind of guy who could be happy just watching her smile. And, Sakura added bitterly to herself, it was about damn time she had a guy like that! No more being screamed at for no reason at all, no more cold glares, no more unrequited love. Always smiling. She chuckled softly, recalling a particular time a while back when she was making fun of his eyebrows. Lee had just broke out in a grin, wriggling both very thick brows up and down, _"Fuzzy-Eyebrows, is it? Very well then, Sakura-san! Heh-Heh!" _Smiling. Even that day at his house, he was smiling at her. Sakura's face was overcome with sadness as she wondered what Lee's home life was like. She had her hunches, but each was as terrible as the next until she just shoved the whole thing from her mind all together. Thinking of Lee having to endure those kinds of things…was too cruel. He didn't deserve it; no one deserved that kind of heartache. Just like…Sasuke. Sakura flipped onto her side, gnawing at her bottom lip. No. No thinking of Sasuke.

Then there was Naruto to think about. Ever since they were about four years old, he had had such a strong crush on her that it sometimes drove her crazy. Sakura allowed her mind to replay their first meeting all the way through; meeting the lonely blonde at the swing set in the Academy's playground, asking if he'd like to play with her, that unbridled smile he had given as he agreed, and then being screamed at by her mother for three hours for talking to _the_ Uzumaki Naruto. But no matter how mean or rude she had been to him after that day, he still followed her around like a little puppy-dog. And every morning, it was the same happy greeting. That wide grin that covered the whole of his face, and a bright, cheery, _"Good morning, Sakura-chan!" _The pink-haired girl felt a twinge if guilt as she realized she had failed to thank Naruto for getting into that huge fight, all for her, as he had claimed. But Naruto was like that. He would defend Sakura with his dying breath if he had to, even though he knew it never got him anywhere with her. He was just so nice, and the complete opposite of Sasuke…

She twisted onto her other side, tangling her sheets around her whole body. Try as she might, there simply was no way of pushing Uchiha Sasuke out of her mind. Sakura stared at a dim patch of sunlight sitting neatly on the folds of her sheets, sighing as her mind went back to the raven-haired boy. Yes, he hated her, he thought she was annoying, and he didn't want to have much to do with her. But, Sakura guessed, this whole gloomy attitude that drove most girls wild was just his way of keeping everyone as far from his heart as he could manage. There was no fooling her! She knew what and why, she just couldn't understand how he could keep this up for so long without feeling horribly empty and cold. Or, maybe he did feel horribly empty and cold. That thought only made the kunoichi feel worse; worse for having failed to help him get over it. Her heart was dedicated to Sasuke, as little sense as that made, and it seemed that it would always be. Lee was a sweetheart, Naruto was a sweetheart, and Sasuke, the jackass, was the one she loved. Sakura laughed at herself, _"You're so stupid…you know that, don't you?"_

"Yeah…I know…" she answered herself out loud, turning onto her back and stretching her arms over her head until she heard her shoulder joints pop. Sakura cast a quick glance out of her window, groaning as she realized she would eventually have to get out of bed, "Ughh…looks like it might rain."

As lazy as Sakura was acting today, her ex-best friend, Yamanaka Ino, was charged up and tearing through her wardrobe. One way or another, she'd wind up at that dance with someone, so she had to be prepared with the perfect outfit. Ino had already tossed out all of the outfits she knew for sure that Sakura owned, griping about how that huge-foreheaded freak had better not wear the same clothes to the dance. Other than that, Ino was surprisingly lenient on Sakura these days. There was no use fighting over Sasuke-kun, because he absolutely never attended the dance. So as long as the living forehead didn't copy her fashion style, Ino was content to leave her alone and focus on more troublesome people. Ino came across a dark purple and white yukata, pausing to push a strand of her freed blonde hair back behind an ear as she mused over the garment.

Her father's voice interrupted her thoughts, cooing at her from the doorway, "Princess! Shikamaru is outside. He says he wants to talk with you for a minute."

"Huh?" Ino's pale blue eyes fluttered a moment, "Shikamaru…is AWAKE?!" Quickly, she sent a look at the clock, and then again, and one final time just to be sure. It was still way too early for that lazy bum to be awake, let alone dressed and walking around. Her brow furrowed in confusion, "Daddy? Did the clocks all stop this morning?"

"Hmm? Well, no Princess, I don't think so." Her father answered, retreating back to his breakfast after having delivered the message.

Ino slowly began pushing clothes from her bed so she could stand up, "That's…weird. I wonder who lit a fire under his ass today." Not bothering with a clean up, Ino just kicked clothing out of her way as she went about her room, pulling off her pajamas and getting dressed in her usual outfit. She departed from her room, tying her hair up into a short ponytail as she headed for the door. Hard as it was to believe, as soon as she opened the door she caught sight of Shikamaru reclined under a tree on her lawn, staring vacantly up at the partially overcast sky. Ino glanced around for a moment. This wasn't a hallucination, right? Very weird. But one look at the shadow-wielding shinobi sent a little smile across her lips. He was cloud watching, his all time favorite thing to do, eyes darting over the multitude of fluffy white patches floating through the sky. The blonde kunoichi shook her head, quietly making her way over to his cloud watching spot and taking a seat near his head. Ino watched him a moment, though he gave no indication that he even knew she was there. Her eyes then went to the sky, glancing the clouds through the crinkly brown leaves still clinging to the tree branches.

All of a sudden, Shikamaru spoke up, "I win in five moves."

"Huh?" Ino glanced down at him, a little startled.

"That cloud up there." He pulled a hand from underneath his head to point upwards. "It looks like a Shogi board. I'd win in five moves."

Ino glanced back up, eyes squinting to make out the shape, "Where? I don't see it."

"It's right there."

"Well I don't see it."

"Well it's changed now."

Ino lowered herself next to Shikamaru, a cheek pressing against one of his so she could see exactly where he was pointing at, "…that doesn't look like a Shogi board."

"Troublesome…" Shikamaru flustered at the contact, pulling away from her as fast as he could manage and sitting up, "I said it just changed."

"Ohh." Her head tilted slightly as she also righted herself into a sitting position, "It looks like an elephant with a fox's tail." She nodded at this, staring at the shifty cloud a little while longer, "So, what miracle got you up so early?"

He scowled at her; his cheeks still red from having been pressed up against her face. She really did know how to push all of his buttons, didn't she? "The dance."

"That's not for another few days."

"I know that." Shikamaru's eyes narrowed, finding her lack of eye contact very annoying at this point, "I mean I want to talk about the dance."

Ino's eyes remained on the clouds, "Oh really? After you've been screaming all week about how you _don't_ want to talk about it?" She suddenly pointed a finger upwards, "It looks like a Shogi board again."

"Huh?" Shikamaru tiled his head back to see, and as soon as he did, a finger gently poked against his nose.

He blinked at Ino, who was now smiling playfully and winking at him, "Gotcha."

"Would you be serious for a moment?" he rubbed at his nose furiously, wondering if the heat in his cheeks was any indication as to just how red he was turning. Shikamaru gradually got to his feet, hands deep in his pockets as he leaned up against the tree and gazed off at the horizon.

Ino's pale eyes seized him, all playfulness quickly dropped from her voice, "Okay then, we'll talk seriously. What's your deal with that sand ninja girl?"

"Ino…" he dragged her name out, "That isn't what this is about…"

"Oh yes it is!" she snapped at him, leaning forward from her spot in the grass, "Ever since she got here, she's been hanging around you like…like a fly hanging around garbage! And she-"

"That's not my fault."

"-is such an obnoxious little thing! I mean, she's got this permanent smirk on her face that just-"

"Getting a little carried away now, Ino…"

"-makes me sick!" The Yamanaka kunoichi folded her arms across her chest, her fierce look growing sour at his constant attempt to talk over her, "Is this all just some stupid joke to you, Shikamaru?" He cut her a glare, an eyebrow rising at her comment. "Well you're sure acting like it is! You go with me every year, doesn't that mean anything at all? Or do you really not care about a damned thing, you big stupid-ass—"

"Ino! Shush!" it was one of those rare times when Shikamaru's voice was stern and authoritative. Ino's rant immediately ended, surprised that the usually laid back shinobi had cut her off so demandingly all of a sudden. Just then, a beam of sunlight broke through the cloud cover, shining directly on the tree that they were under. Ino winced at the assault of light on her eyes, but Shikamaru didn't seem to mind. He simply stood there, highlighted by the sun, continuing his talk as Ino stared, "Just shush and listen for a minute. What I'm trying to say, if you'd let me get a word in edgewise, you troublesome girl, is that I'd much rather go to the dance with you than Temari. I came here to work out a meeting time and place, but of course, I just wind up getting lectured at. Troublesome..."

Ino gaped at him as he went on muttering about his rotten luck, "Shikamaru…really?"

"Yes, really." unexpectedly, Shikamaru's usual grouchy look lifted into something of a pleasant smirk, "After all these years, I can't really be seen at this thing without you, can I?"

"Shikamaru!" giggling, Ino launched herself at her teammate and wrapped her arms around his neck, again pressing her cheek against his.

"Gahhhh!! Wha-what are you doing, you troublesome girl?!" his cool composure quickly gave way to a spastic panic, hands flying out of his pockets and kept aloft at his sides to avoid this from becoming a real hug.

She pulled away slightly, winking again, "When night falls, the day of the dance, right here. And try to wear something that's not torn up and ratty, okay?"

He sighed, glancing off in the distance, "Troublesome…"

"Thanks, Shikamaru!" Ino abruptly turned and skipped back to her house, "I'll see you at the dance then! Don't be late!" She swung the door open, singing something about stealing dates from evil ninja bitches as she hopped back inside.

He heard the door shut, gazing up again as the sunlight vanished. Shikamaru sighed to himself; that had been simple enough. Now came the hard part: Keeping away from Temari so he could live long enough to see the dance. He muttered his favorite word five or six more times, shuffling off through the leaves cluttered on the lawn back home for a well deserved nap.

The sun kept darting in and out all day long, clouds threatening to unleash a downpour at any moment. Hyuuga Hinata spent the entire day leaned up against her window frame, her head resting on crossed arms, letting the autumn breeze touch across her face. Twice, twice she had gotten so close to asking Naruto to the dance that the very memory of it made her pulse quicken. And both times had wound up in failure. Hinata whimpered at this thought, pale eyes playing over the distance between her bedroom window and the ground. Maybe it was just better this way. Maybe, somehow, someone was trying to save her from some crushing humiliation that would happen if she went to the dance. She could just picture it; her doing something so embarrassing that Naruto straight out laughed at her. Yeah, not going at all was definitely better than that. But this thought offered little comfort for Hinata, who only whimpered more as she thought about how much she hated being this shy around everyone.

Her father and sister had tried constantly to pry the shy girl from her room, tempting with festival food and games. But Hinata had refused breakfast, lunch, dinner, and the countless promises of cookies or cake by her sister. She just wanted to sit and watch the dismal sky, which so perfectly matched her dismal mood. Nighttime snuck up on her, the sky darkening as the wind took on a bitter chill. Hinata thought about curling up in her bed and falling asleep…for a few weeks…or months. She eventually uncurled herself from her windowsill, reaching a hand up to shut the window, but she stopped as she caught sight of someone walking around the streets in the middle of the night. The Hyuuga mansion was pretty far from the Festival grounds, so it struck the kunoichi as unusual for someone to be wandering around at this hour. The stranger shuffled his way behind a tree, but the Byakugan made short work of that, and the mop of bright red hair was easily distinguishable, "G-Gaara…kun…?"

Gaara heard his name whispered, and stepped out into the middle of the street to look around. His dark-rimmed eyes almost instantly lifted up towards Hinata, "You."

"Wha…what are you doing up so late, Gaara-kun…?" she met his darkened eyes, leaning a little out of her window.

His answer was short and simple, "Taking a walk." He had decided, since falling asleep was completely out of the question and the festival seemed less fun without Naruto to knock things over and aggravate everyone, that he would wander around Konohagakure until the sun came back up. For all the power it granted, having the Sand Spirit bound within you certainly made the nights drag on.

"Ohhh…" Hinata tried to ignore just how strange that sounded, going back to staring at the ground.

"Something wrong?" Gaara had noticed her incredibly depressed expression, but his voice betrayed his intentions.

Hinata flinched at his tone, "O-Ohh, no! I-I didn't mean it like that...I…I just…I thought…it was strange…for you to be walking around…"

Slowly, the sand shinobi crossed the street and hopped over the fence surrounding the Hyuuga mansion. Hinata pulled back from her window a little, thinking she had upset him with her comment and now he was going to kill her. Gaara stopped right under her window, staring up as she clung defensively to a bed sheet, "You like Naruto."

"Huh!?" Hinata's cheeks were instantly consumed with redness, "W-w-well, I…I-I…It isn't…"

Gaara didn't wait for a definite answer, "Ask him out."

She sadly released her death-grip on her sheets, again staring down, "I did…"

"So ask again."

"I can't…"

"Wuss."

Hinata stared down at him for a moment, "You know…you are very mean…" Gaara cut her a deadly glare, and Hinata quickly pulled her sheet up over her mouth and nose in an attempt to block it out.

"So I will ask him for you." Gaara concluded.

Hinata lowered the sheet from her face, "N-no…you can't…"

"Why?"

"He…he would laugh…"

"Then I would kill him."

"You…aren't very good at this…" again the glare, and again Hinata's face was shielded by the bed sheet.

Gaara stared up at her for a very long time, watching as the sheet receded to check if he was still there, then flew back up at the sight of those cold green eyes. It was fairly clear that his little 'pep-talk' wasn't doing anything more than scaring the timid girl, so he tried again, making a mental note to keep the death-threats down a little, "He likes you."

The bed sheet slowly came away from her face, "Naruto-kun…likes me…?"

"He said you were a nice person. He told me that you were the first one who did not just dismiss him right away for who he was." Of course, Gaara made it sound a little better than Naruto's actual words of _"Hinata's great! She may be shy, and weird, and gloomy…but she's got a great big heart! She never tells me off or anything like that!" _

"Na-Naruto-kun…s-said that…" Hinata strangled the sheet between her hands, her face braking out in the usual nervous blush.

"Maybe." Gaara answered straight-faced, turning to leave, "But you'll never find out if you give up so easily." He began walking away, that massive gourd on his back swaying with the weight of the sand it held. He again hopped the fence, then crossed the street, and disappeared into the darkness of the night.

Hinata clutched her twisted sheet a while longer, staring in awe as the sand shinobi vanished from sight. Her hopes renewed, Hinata leaned back out into the breezy night, and shouted as best as her meek little voice could manage.

"Thank you, Gaara-kun!"

Author's Ending Rant- Wahoo!! ShikaIno fluff is good! I really enjoyed that scene, and I REALLY enjoyed Gaara's pep talk! So against his usual character, but hey, the guy has changed a little bit, right? (I can't say too much without giving away manga spoilers, but, he helped Lee out!) I definitely had more fun with the dialog than the descriptions this chapter!

Shogi is like Japenese Chess (Right? o.o; ) And I figgured Shikamaru would say 'shush!' instead of 'shut up!' to Ino, because a 'shut up' would definately get him smacked. 

I'm starting to feel like Sakura-chan is the main character of this fic. I'm not sure, but I think she's consistently in the most chapters. She's definitely one of my favorite characters, behind her teammates of course, mostly because of her actions during the Chuunin exam. That's my defense on why she's in it so much! u.u;

I apologize to everything and anything I have and will do to poor Kiba-kun! I can't help it! Hinata and Naruto are so…so…so cute together! I'll have to dig up another girl to give the puppy-boy!

Okay! We're coming down to the wire now! Wait for the next update to see what happens next, and remember to review! Thanks!


	13. Approaching Deadline

Author's Opening Rant- n.n Thank you guys SO much! Your reviews are absolutely wonderful! I can't thank you enough, all of you! I am very happy with the way that this story has developed, and I am incredibly happy that you guys appreciate it as well!

As always, thanks for the input! The great thing about this fic is that I started typing without having a clear ending, so it's been able to change and adapt as I went along! The beautiful thing about Masashi Kishimoto's _Naruto_ is the way it goes from light and hysterical to so serious you could choke—I hope I've captured some of that essence. I've tried to!

Also, I'll try to alter my phrasings. I realize it gets a little redundant after a while; I'll keep that in mind.

And yes, Gaara would make a lousy advice columnist! ::Snicker::

**Chapter 13- Approaching Dead-line**

"Tomorrow night, tomorrow night…I HAVE to ask her by tomorrow night!"

"Arf!"

"I know, I know! There isn't a lot of time left! What should I do?"

"Arf! Arf arf arf!"

Inuzuka Kiba lifted his head from his hands, smiling down at his little white dog, "You're right, Akamaru! I can't give up this easily! I'll just march up to Hinata and ask her! What's the worst that could happen?" Akamaru whimpered, meaning that there was a lot that could happen…and all of it was pretty bad. But Kiba didn't notice, or he was just trying to stay as optimistic as possible about everything, and just lifted himself out of his crouched position by one of the festival's many food booths, "Alright then! Let's get moving Akamaru!"

"Arf!" the puppy jumped up, taking his usual perch on Kiba's head as the little Gennin set off for the Hyuuga mansion.

Not two steps later, Kiba caught sight of Aburame Shino mingled in with the crowd of festivalgoers. Shino turned and stared right at his teammate, pushing his dark glasses up the bridge of his nose with a finger. Kiba froze, "Gahhh! Akamaru, it's Shino! That traitor's been trying to keep me away from Hinata for a little while now!" Kiba's face went green, recalling the whole 'my bug burrowed under your skin' episode earlier in the week, "We'd better find another way. We'll take the secret short-cut to Hinata's house."

"Arrrf…" Akamaru yipped an agreement.

The Inuzuka heir slowly backed away, making sure that the bug shinobi wasn't going to follow. When he thought Shino's gaze had left him—though, really, how could anyone tell?—Kiba whirled around and ducked down an alleyway. He smirked triumphantly to himself, already starting to mentally compile exactly what he would say to Hinata when he found her. It was turning out to be a brilliant speech in his mind, but again, Kiba stopped dead. Not halfway to the Hyuuga mansion, Kiba found himself face to face with the redheaded sand Shinobi Gaara. A cold jade gaze fell on Kiba as Gaara lifted a hand, slowly closing his fingers, a clear threat to unleash his Desert Coffin technique on the dog-trainer. Kiba instantly turned on his heels and walked rapidly back to the festival grounds, sweating bullets from the encounter. Once he was as far as he could be from the diminutive sand ninja, Kiba released the nervous breath he had been holding, "Geeeeez. It's like we're being watched, Akamaru!" The puppy had climbed down from his master's head, curling up just under Kiba's chin, tucked inside of his shirt. Yep, Gaara was a scary person to run into down a dark alley all right. Kiba reached a hand up and scratched his head through his hood, "Man…Why's everyone taking that moron's side?" He took a moment to think this over, and then answered himself, "…Because Hinata is obsessed with him and would die to go to the dance with him. Ahh, man…" Kiba lowered his hood, reaching up to scratch Akamaru behind the ears as he took a seat on a few crates of festival food. He lifted his eyes to stare up at the dark gray sky, wondering if maybe he shouldn't just let the short little bastard take Hinata. Not that Naruto deserved it, mind you, but it would certainly make the shy Hyuuga girl smile. And what a nice smile she had. Wait a minute—what was he thinking?! Let _Naruto _take her?! Kiba at once shook his head and jumped to his feet, fists balled up in conviction, "Grrrrr, NO WAY! I'm gonna go to the dance with Hinata no matter what!! And then I'll kill that little runt!"

There was a very dry "Ahem." behind him, and Kiba slowly turned to see Shino standing and staring dead at the dog-trainer.

Kiba couldn't decide which thought he hated worse: Being squished by sand or being eaten by bugs, "Uhhh….h-hey, Shino." The sky suddenly rumbled, and a light spray of rain came cascading down. Kiba tugged his hood back into place as he, Shino, and a majority of the festivalgoers went scattering for cover.

With just a day left to prepare for the big dance, many of Konoha's upper level ninjas were hurrying to finish the preparations. Torches had to be set up for light, room had to be made for a dance floor, and the bags of leaves had to be arranged for the bonfire. The whole thing was a pretty big production and already had the Hokage loosing her mind—though not her voice—but the onset of rain only made things harder.

Tsunade stood barking orders, a hand full of carefully drawn plans held over her head to offer some cover from the rain, "Damn it, Kouji! Line those up right! Izumi, Takeda, I want there to be a PILE of leaves, not a random mess! GAI, STOP DANCING AND GET TO WORK!" Many of the ninjas scurried to get their appointed tasks done, terrified of what the Hokage would do to them if they did it wrong.

Seeing that the Hokage was about to explode in a rage, Shizune skipped over to her to offer some calming advise, "Tsunade-sama, please calm down. Everything will get done on time and—"

"You're damn right it will!" Tsunade bit back, already way beyond help. Her angry glare went from her assistant upwards to the clouds, "And this rain had better STOP!"

Iruka, another one of the last minute helpers, joined Shizune in a feverish attempt to calm the crazed Sennin, "Please, Hokage-sama, there is no need to act so rashly. It will stop. It is supposed to be very nice tomorrow night."

Tsunade shook a fist full of damp paper up at the sky, "Do not trifle with me! I am the Hokage of Konohagakure village, Damnit, don't think I can't MAKE the rain stop!" Shizune and Iruka backed away as Tsunade spouted a few 'Don't make me come up there!'s at the rain.

"She…doesn't handle stress well." Shizune offered as an explination, and Iruka nodded furiously. The medical ninja quickly made herself scarce, knowing that she'd probably be the first to catch hell if Tsunade's mood got any worse.

Iruka stood there sighing, but smiling at the same time. The Hokage only wanted the dance to be perfect, he was sure of it, and that just meant she cared a lot about it. Even if she was threatening the clouds. He scratched nervously at the scar across his nose, wondering if he shouldn't disappear as well. A voice jarred him from his train of thought, "IRUKA-SENSEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!"

Iruka turned to see Naruto jogging over towards him, "Naruto? What are you doing out here?"

"I was at the festival, but then I saw you, so I came over here!" Naruto grinned up at his former teacher. As expected of the vessel of the Kyuubi, every last one of Naruto's injuries was completely healed. His shoulder felt perfectly fine, the ache in his ribs had subsided, and all of the cuts and gashes were healed over with no sign of ever being there. "Iruka-sensei, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto happily prattled on, "You guys are setting up for the dance, right, right?"

"That's right, Naruto. We're nearly done. Here." Iruka leaned over and handed Naruto a few of the wooden torches, "We can use all the help we can get right now."

Naruto gaped at the torches in his hands for a moment. He was…expected to do WORK?! He watched as Iruka set to work, plunging the lanterns into the soft ground one at a time and making sure they were lined up properly. The little blonde shinobi mimicked his old teacher, digging the torches into the ground, but with a considerably less amount of finesse. He glanced back over his crooked line of torches; sweat dropping slightly as he noticed how perfectly straight Iruka's row had turned out. A thought snuck into Naruto's mind as he went about thrusting the torches into the ground, speaking while trying to correct a horribly slanted one, "Uhhh…Iruka-sensei? Can I ask you something?"

"Of course." The Chuunin stared down at him, planting another lantern into place, "What's on your mind?"

Naruto's face twisted into a cranky little pout, "How come some people act like assholes when the dance comes around?"

The question at first took Iruka by surprise, but the look on Naruto's face caused the Chuunin to break out into laughter. He raised a hand to his head, wiping some of the raindrops from his face, "Sasuke, right?" The look on Naruto's face soured even more as he let out a light growl. Iruka rested a hand atop the Gennin's head and ruffled that blonde hair of his, "Don't let him get to you."

"But Iruka-sensei, he's such an asshole. Why won't he just go with Sakura-chan? He knows it'd make her happy, but he's…just…an asshole!" Soft blue eyes questioned, but only received more tussled hair in response.

"Go easy on him, Naruto. Sasuke has been a very difficult boy to deal with since…well, for a very long time now." A wide smile played across Iruka's face as he withdrew his hand.

"But, Sensei…" Naruto glanced at the ground, watching raindrops cause little ripples in the slowly forming puddles, "Sakura-chan…she was so sad…"

Iruka clasped a hand firmly on Naruto's shoulder, "Heh. Don't you worry about it. I am sure Sakura will find someone else to go with, and she'll be perfectly happy at the dance. So let's get these all set up so that she can see where she is dancing, right?" Iruka smirked, getting back to the task at hand. Naruto always had been a little more sensitive than he liked to let on, especially about his crush, Sakura. It was just his way of being a nice guy, Iruka thought as he finished up his row of lanterns. He turned back around to see Naruto still trying to straighten out one torch in particular, and still looking crest-fallen over his two teammates. Seeking to change the subject, Iruka rose his voice playfully and shouted over the increasing rainfall, "And what about you? Who are you going with, mmm?"

"Me?" Naruto's eyes fluttered a few times as he reached both hands up to fix his mussed hair, "Well…I couldn't think of anyone to ask, so I'll just go by myself, I guess."

Iruka's head tilted to the side, "Couldn't think of anyone? Naruto, why didn't you just ask Hinata?" Since day one at the academy, Hinata had shadowed Naruto like some lovesick puppy. It was clear to anyone with half a brain that the shy Hyuuga heiress was infatuated with the spastic blonde, and Iruka thought it would have been obvious for him to ask Hinata. But unfortunately, all the logic in the world would never pierce that thick skull of Naruto's.

Those bright eyes just widened, "Hinata? Really?" He thought about this a moment, eyes shutting as his face scrunched into a pout. "Ohhh, man…why didn't I think of that?" he thought back to all the times over the past week that Hinata had seemed to pop up out of nowhere. Weird coincidences, all of them. But thinking back, Naruto almost wished he had thought of it at first. Hinata was such a nice person, albeit a little shy, but he was pretty sure she would have been nice enough to agree to go, not strike him and shout like Sakura had. Such a wasted opportunity. Naruto just shrugged, smiling back up at his former teacher, "Oh well. Too late now, right?"

Iruka smirked, a finger wagging in the younger boy's face, "I wouldn't be so sure about that. Maybe if you hurried up and asked her, she'd—"

"**Irukaaaaa!**" a deadly voice called the Chuunin about a split-second before a ball of soaking wet paper belted him in the back of the head. Iruka turned, flinching at the sight of Tsunade glowering at him, "Get back to work!! Those lanterns don't look like they're going to line THEMSELVES up in the ground!!!"

"Ahh…yes, Hokage-sama!" he quickly scraped up another armload of wooden torches, giving Naruto a quick glance over his shoulder as he got back to work as commanded, "I'll be with you in just a second! If you want to hang around a little while longer, I'll treat you to ramen afterwards." Iruka knew the fastest way to Naruto's heart. Naruto beamed up at his former teacher, hurrying to correct his row of ridiculous looking torches. The sooner this got done, the sooner he'd get Ramen!

At one of Konoha's biggest and most lavish hotels, Temari of the sand was sitting on the windowsill, staring out at the rain. Since it seemed that today would be a drab and damp day, Temari had shed her formal yukata for her usual outfit. She was just going to lounge around the room anyway; there was no one to impress at the moment. She watched as the raindrops trailed down the glass in warped lines, sighing, and resting a hand into her palm. She hadn't come all this way to sit in her room and watch the rain, Damnit.

Behind her, Kankuro was harassing the front desk again with countless ridiculous requests, "Yeah, and send over a steak; well-done of course, and some spicy sauce to go with that. Yeah. Yeah. That's it. Oh, wait! Do you guys get fresh lobster here?" He was definitely going to take full advantage of this free ride.

Temari turned to scowl at him with aggravated cobalt eyes, "You're an idiot." Kankuro just brushed it off, continuing to squawk into the intercom. "You know…if Gaara was here, he'd kill you…for being an idiot, of course. Idiot." Temari was feeling a bit stir crazy at being cooped up all day, and since Kankuro was right there, he got to be her target.

Eventually, the puppet master turned off the intercom and turned to grimace at his sister, "Shut up. That pipsqueak went outside, so he can't do a damn thing." He lied back onto his bed, shoving his puppet, Crow, off for a little more elbow space, "…I hope the runt drowns…"

"And I hope your stomach explodes, fat ass." Temari's eyes narrowed. Ahh, the love of a sibling; nothing quite like it in the world.

But rather than the usual smart-ass retort, Kankuro just smirked and twisted his head to stare at her, "Someone's in a bad mood. Guess you heard already, huh?"

"Heard what?" She lifted her face from her hand in curiosity.

"About your boyfriend." Kankuro's smile widened wickedly. Her pain was his pleasure, as it went with most siblings, and at the moment, he was thoroughly enjoying himself.

Temari resisted the urge to snatch up her fan and tear the entire room inside out, "I don't have a boyfriend, moron!"

"Not anymore." A flash of perfectly white teeth as he poked a finger down at his puppet, "I got a little bored yesterday, so I took Crow out for a spin. I happened to overhear that Nara kid asking that psycho woman to this dance stupidity. What was her name?"

"Ino?" Temari quirked an eyebrow. She was struggling to keep her calm at the moment, a hand already reaching back for her weapon.

"Yeah! That's the one!" Kankuro chuckled, happy that the news had so obviously disturbed his sister. But his amusement over the whole thing quickly ended as his sister's heavy metal fan slammed down on the bed, only inches from cracking his skull, splitting the pillow wide open and spilling feathers all around.

Temari huffed. She quickly swung her weapon onto place on her back and headed for the door, her face twisted angrily, "..be right back."

Her brother gulped at the look in her eyes. It was one he had become very familiar with, and knew damn well to steer clear of, "Huh? Where're you going? It's raining out, stupid!"

"I'm going to have a talk with this pig-headed Ino girl." The door was swiftly slammed behind her, causing a few feathers to float around the room. Kankuro glowered at her retreat, plucking feathers from his shoulder. Wherever this Ino girl was, he hoped she was a fast runner. The puppet master slowly lowered himself on the bed again, figuring he'd leave the feathers for housekeeping, and anxiously awaited his latest splurge.

The rain only seemed to increase as the day went on, from a light drizzle, into a downpour. Ultimately, the rain decreased into a steady shower. The festivities were fairly skimpy due to the precipitation, so someone decided that it was a good opportunity to check the festival grounds out. Someone who hadn't seen the festival in five years: Uchiha Sasuke. He smirked wryly to himself as soon as he stepped outside, "Figures." Just his luck that the first time in all these years that he finally decided to go and take a look at the festival, it would be raining. Sasuke sighed to himself, and slowly set out to walk the festival grounds, slowly because his ankle was still incredibly sore from the fight with Naruto. Even the black eye lingered on his face, and he had to keep his headband in his pocket because of the bandage over that gash on his forehead.

After a night of careful contemplation, Sasuke had realized something. No matter how painful the memory may be, this was certainly no way to deal with it. His pride as an Uchiha demanded that he deal with this problem, and head on, so he had forced himself out of his still trashed house and onto the festival grounds. But every street corner stirred something up in his mind, and he often found himself staring down at his feet to avoid seeing the bright paper lanterns that were soaking in the rainfall.

His brain was whirling with thoughts. At first, he was mostly reminiscing about past festivals he had spent with his family. The one year he had won at every game booth he stopped at, another year when his father had actually spent the majority of his time with Sasuke, another year when Itachi had turned the younger Uchiha boy upside-down in the fish-catching booth, and so on, until he began wondering why that terrible incident had to have happened. But after a while of wandering aimlessly through the rain, his mind began to turn towards the possibilities that would arise from attending the festival with his teammates. Naruto always seemed to find some way of having fun, and Sasuke was sure that if he could talk the blonde out of sacking booths, they would probably be able to come up with something entertaining to do. It would probably wind up as a contest of some kind, which he, Uchiha Sasuke, would obviously win. Kakashi might be a little fun as well, though to a far lesser extent, but he seemed the type to casually win at every festival game he came across. And then there was…Sakura. Sakura who would probably giggle and squeal with every game someone won, and always have an idea of what to do next, and keep Naruto in check, and point out all the little differences that the festival brought to Konoha, and probably pester him to death with constant 'are you having a good time's. Sasuke allowed a faint smile to crack across his face at this thought—yep. That sounded exactly like something she would do. And on some level…spending the festival with his friends…almost sounded as fun as it had been spending it with his family.

He made his way around from one end of the festival to the other, glancing lazily over the patrons and the goods they had to offer.

One in particular caught his eye, and gave the young ninja a friendly shout, "Here there! Care for some fresh baked goods? Sweetest cookies in all of Konoha!"

The image of his mother flashed instantly in his mind, but this time, Sasuke wouldn't allow it to overtake him with sorrow. He just shook his head at the man, dark black bangs dripping in his eyes, as he spoke, "No. No thanks." The booth vendor shrugged happily and turned to proposition another villager.

Sasuke smirked over his little triumph, _"Heh. That wasn't so bad."_ Healing was a very slow process apparently, and the Uchiha heir had decided to approach it one step at a time. This was just a minor victory for now. The real challenge would come tomorrow night, at the dance. He'd show Naruto just who was a 'Baby-Sasuke.'

And he'd show Sakura just who was in control of his heart.

Author's ending Rant- Bwaaaa…so awkward with that Iruka scene! e.e; I re-typed it three times, and I'm still not sure if it sounds quite right. Please tell me if it completely sucks! U.u;

My favorite scene this chapter was definitely the Temari/Kankuro one! Why? Because I just KNOW I have had a similar conversation with my brother. MANY times.

I'm very sorry for the delay in getting this posted, and exceptionally sorry if it seems a little…I'm not sure. Skimpy? Glossed over? Damn that scene with Iruka! I just had to focus on my other ficclet to finish it on time, so I haven't been as dedicated to this one as I usually am. It'll be back up to par next time, I promise!

As always, R&R! Thanks!


	14. Expectation

Author's Opening Rant- Yes, I am an evil little thing! Don't you guys know? "Never trust a smiling fox!" (Ancient Japanese proverb.) I do like keeping my readers in suspense, because as everyone knows, you should always leave them wanting more! ::smirk::

And as always, before I start I have to give a HUGE thank you to all my readers and reviewers! Thank you guys so much! I'm so glad you like "Leaf Festival" and I'm happy to keep churning out chapters for you all! And I am especially happy for your kind comments and incredibly helpful suggestions! Domo arigato goizimasu!

Now then—this chapter might wind up a little short, just because I want to really set some chapters aside for the dance. As for The Uchiha boy attending the dance, and Naruto asking Hinata…surprises are fun! ::smirk smirk smirk::

**Chapter 14- Expectation**

After a week of schemes, plots, tears, fights, threats, and exhausted emotions, the day of the Leaf Festival dance had finally arrived. That night, the lanterns would be lit all across Konoha as the villagers celebrated their autumn festivities. And thankfully, the rain had finally stopped. Tsunade had smiled triumphantly as the sun peered through the clouds that morning, bragging about how she had 'shown those rain-clouds!' Most of the ninjas just smiled back and agreed, not wanting to upset her by pointing out the obvious fact that clouds did not simply appear nor disappear by a woman's anger.

All around the village, people were preparing for the massive dance that would take place near the Hokage monument that night. Banners were strung, extra lanterns were set up in windowsills, and fancy yukata were being laid out in preparation. The Gennin themselves were no exception to the frenzied last-minute details of the day.

Neji and Tenten had decided it would be intelligent to just spend the whole of the day together. Most likely, they would have anyway, so this just saved them both the time of rushing home to bathe and dress. Tenten had found a long, sweeping yukata made of pale jade fabric, and for possibly the first time in her life, her hair was down in two carefully and perfectly wound braids. Neji had dug up and old, royal blue formal outfit from his closet to dress in, though he outright refused to leave the house without his Konoha headband secured around the mark on his forehead. But for all the Hyuuga genius' grousing and feigned complaining, they were having more fun at the festival than they had had all week. The proof was in the five or six small plush animals that Tenten was clinging to. She had no idea that Neji was quite this good at festival games; although, he did loose horribly to the giddy weapons master every single time they approached a game that required some kind of skill with aiming.

That night, Hatake Kakashi mused to himself as he lazily leafed through his usual book, that night he would definitely ask Shizune to a dance. And then she would just gush all over him, about how sweet and noble he was. And, inevitably, she would fall for him. Oh yes, Kakashi had everything worked out in his mind. All that he needed to do now was work up the nerve to ask. He composed his humble request mentally as he turned the pages of _Icha Icha Paradise_, hoping he might somehow stumble across a phrase or an action that he would find helpful. But all he could find in the book, much to his delight, were they ways NOT to act on a date. Thought it was still very entertaining!

Nara Shikamaru had discovered the perfect plan for keeping himself in good health until tonight: Not leaving his room. The shadow shinobi had barricaded his door and held himself captive in his own bedroom, eyes anxiously staring out of his window. He figured that this way, Temari would never know about his decision, and could therefore not kill him. Likewise, Ino would not be able to nag him half to death with little suggestions about what he would wear and how he should act at the dance. This wasn't just troublesome; it was dangerous! Shikamaru even refused to entertain himself with games of Go or Shogi in fear that the sound of the game pieces clacking against the boards might somehow alert Temari to his location. And then he'd be dead. And then Ino would dig him up and kill him again for ditching out on her. He slowly lowered himself onto his stomach on his bed and pulled the sheets up over his head to hide even better. Man…it would be a miracle if he made it out of this whole ordeal without a few emotional and physical scars. So troublesome…

Outside on the festival grounds, Kiba found himself getting quite a run around. With less than a few hours to ask Hinata to the dance, he was trying every sneaky thing he could think of to get to her house—and each time, either Shino or Gaara would pop up and stop him. It was driving the dog-trainer crazy! Shino and Gaara took turns cutting off Kiba's attempts, unintentionally, but it seemed very effective. Each time he got past the Konoha bug ninja, the little sand ninja would appear and glower death at him, and vice versa. Shino had to pause a few times to marvel at how well their teamwork was getting the job accomplished. If it weren't for the fact that neither of them spoke very much, he and Gaara would probably make an impressive duo. Shino sighed to himself as he saw Kiba duck into an alleyway and take off. Figuring he didn't have much time to think over the possibilities of a bug/sand attack, Shino hurried after his teammate to keep his promise to Hinata.

The Hyuuga heiress herself was completely oblivious to Kiba's desperate attempt at catching her attention. Hinata was in her room making last minute adjustments on her long deep purple yukata. True, she had no date to attend the dance with as of yet, but Gaara's pep talk had given her hope of still catching the clueless Uzumaki Naruto's eye. And besides, she had promised to meet Neji at the dance for a short while. Hinata figured she could meet up with her cousin for a moment, slowly build her confidence, then find the mischievous Naruto and ask him to dance. She only hoped she could do it without fainting, or running away in embarrassment. Hinata took a good look at herself in the full-length mirror hung on her wall, gulping at the nervous anticipation assembling in her chest.

Rock Lee had made sure to get all of his chores done as soon and as quickly as possible. He had scrubbed his tiny house from top to bottom until it practically sparkled, then washed all the dirty dishes that had accumulated over the week, and took the trash out. This way, he would be able to enjoy himself at the dance without worrying over what he would have to do once he got back home. He wanted his mind to be perfectly clear the whole night so he could give his full attention to Sakura. Lee smiled silently to himself as he rummaged through his father's closet for a fancy outfit that might fit him. He settled on a pale blue one, having to dust the garment off and smooth out a multitude of wrinkles before seeing if it actually fit. All Lee really had to do was roll the sleeves up a little and the outfit worked just fine. The taijutsu master couldn't suppress his grin as he evened his hair into a perfectly round shape. Tonight, he thought happily to himself as a blush broke across his face, he would have the privilege of escorting the most beautiful kunoichi to the Leaf Festival. It almost seemed as if his run of bad luck was finally beginning to turn around.

Humming gleefully to herself, Yamanaka Ino tied her pure white yukata into place and stepped outside to enjoy the day for a short while by herself. She and Shikamaru had their meeting place and time, so to kill the hours in-between, Ino decided that all the boys of Konoha should get a good look at just how wonderful she looked in her brand new outfit. A few little festival games, a couple of warm hellos to strangers, and a short pause by the Haruno house to brag about her new yukata would definitely keep her entertained long enough to wait for Shikamaru's meeting time. She had scarcely passed by the neighbor's house when Ino was stopped, face to face with a clearly pissed off Temari of the sand. It was no secret what had so angered the sand kunoichi, and Ino just offered her a smug look of triumph. Temari's eyes narrowed, a hand slowly reaching back for her fan. Ino brought her hands forward to form the seal of her family's perfected Psychic Jutsu. The girls really didn't need words; both knew the cause of this fight, both were determined to win this fight, and both were fully prepared to battle it out right in the middle of the street. All over one lazy, boring, stubborn, cranky ninja.

Back at his room, Shikamaru sneezed underneath his covers, rubbing his nose miserably, "Ahh…that's a bad sign."

And so, all the Ninjas of Konohagakure were preparing for the night of the dance.

But out of all of them, Haruno Sakura was not yet thinking about what she would wear or do tonight. The pink-haired Kunoichi stood just beyond the festival grounds, leaned against a building with her arms loosely folded in front of her, bright green eyes focused sadly on the prominent Uchiha estate. For all her promising and swearing to shove him out of her mind for even one night, Sakura found herself thinking more and more about Sasuke over the last few days. It wasn't just an obsession; it was bordering on addiction. Their last encounter had been less than pleasant, and it had Sakura genuinely concerned. Had she really hurt his feelings with her speech? Had she just made things worse? No one had really seen the Uchiha heir since his battle with Naruto, and it was anyone's guess what he was doing in there, locked in his house away from everyone he knew. Sakura winced to herself, hoping that somehow, she could regain whatever awkward relationship she had had with Sasuke prior to this whole Leaf Festival fiasco. Being yelled at was far better than being ignored.

A voice behind the pink-haired Haruno startled her from her thoughts, "Ahh. It's the rarest blossom that blooms most beautifully, isn't it?"

"H-huh?" Sakura pushed herself away from the building and turned, catching sight of Kakashi reading his perverted book just behind her, "Sensei? What does that mean?"

Kakashi's single eye closed softly, "A smile seen everyday is fine, but a smile seen once every so often is precious. Isn't it, Sakura?" He giggled at the continued misunderstanding his words were giving his student. Sakura understood the phrases simply enough, just not why Kakashi was saying them, or why he expected her to understand. The Jounin clapped his book shut and smiled at her under his mask, "Anyway, what brings you all the way over here, eh? Shouldn't you be getting ready for your date with Lee?"

Sakura pushed a few stray strands of rose-petal pink hair behind her ear, again glancing away at the Uchiha house, "Well…all I have to do is get changed. That won't take more than a few minutes. So…I have some free time to…"

"To worry yourself sick, eh?" Kakashi reached a hand out and patted her head, "Don't. I'm sure that once the festival ends, we'll have our old, crabby Sasuke back." At least, he certainly hoped so. Kakashi certainly didn't want to have to storm into that house and drag Sasuke out by force.

Sakura nodded, a light smile coming across her face, "Okay." Kakashi smiled back, removing his hand as he turned to walk away, flipping his book open again. Sakura watched him, eyebrows furrowing a moment as she thought about the peculiar phrase he had given her, "Kakashi-sensei! Wait a minute!"

"Yes?" He twisted his head around; his eye squinted shut with a wide grin.

"What…what did you mean, 'the rarest blossom that blooms'…I don't understand."

"Ohhh, I suspect you will…soon enough…" the enigmatic Jounin went back to reading his book, a hand waving a goodbye to his student, "I will see you tonight then, Sakura. Take care."

"Right." She watched her teacher shuffle away, still unsure of what he was trying to get at. Her eyes went back to Sasuke's house for an instant, then to Kakashi, then down to stare at the ground underneath her. She figured it had to be some corny line he picked out of that disgusting book he was always lugging around. It had to be. There was no other explination, except for…

Her eyes went once more to the Uchiha estate. Sakura shook her head out, trying to pry her mind away from Sasuke for a while so she could focus on the dance. The dance that Lee was taking her to, and the dance where she was going to enjoy herself all night long without a further thought about Uchiha Sasuke. Sakura took in a deep breath and headed back home to get herself ready. Having a good time at the dance meant not thinking about Sasuke, and standing around to stare at his house was not helping.

Uzumaki Naruto turned and twisted, making sure he looked all right from every angle possible. He scrunched his face as he passed judgment on the image staring back at him from his full-length mirror. He had found an old dark green outfit crammed into the back of his closet, left carelessly on the floor next to his old pair of goggles. Naruto would have preferred something orange, and even played with the idea of just throwing his usual jacket over the whole thing. But Dark green was bad enough with his bright blonde hair without adding another sharp color into the mix. Naruto twisted again, trying to stretch the fabric of the outfit so that it didn't seem as horribly wrinkled as it actually was.

"Ahh, man…" the fox-boy grimaced as he eyed the crumpled fabric, "This is impossible. Maybe no one will notice since it'll be all dark and stuff…" The outfit in and of itself was not what Naruto was so cranky about, although, he kept thinking over and over how badly he wished it were orange. The main problem was his noticeable lack of a date. Not that he ever had one all the years before, or that he had even understood what everyone was talking about the first time he heard that he should take someone to the dance, but still. Iruka had made a very good point, he could have just asked Hinata all those times over the past week.

"_That would have been a blast!" _Naruto thought to himself, smirking as he managed to smooth over a sleeve, _"I could'a shown Hinata all kinds of ways to cheat at those festival games, and then we could've thrown bags of leaves at Sasuke's house!" _The mischievous little Gennin allowed himself to chuckle as the images of those thoughts played through his mind.

His smirk quickly diminished as he noticed that the fabric of his outfit wouldn't stay smoothed over for more than a few token seconds, "Nahhhhh. Hinata'd probably never do those kinds of things. Besides, I'll bet that dope Kiba asked her weeks ago."

Naruto finally gave up on his outfit. It was fine enough for now—not like he'd actually get to dance, anyway. He shrugged the thoughts of bringing someone far from his mind, grinning that distinctly fox-like grin that so often came across his face before he started trouble.

"Alright! Time for the dance!!!"

And so began the Leaf Festival Dance.

Author's Closing Rant- ::snicker:: Wow, that's still pretty short! Yes, yes, it's meant to glaze over everyone except for Sakura and Naruto. Geez, I went on for so long without dialog, I was going to die! But it came out good. This chapter came out exactly as I wanted it to…but…short. O.o;

Next Chapter: THE DANCE!! Whoooo!! n.n Finally! You'll all have to wait and see how things turn out! But don't worry—there's still quite a few chapters left before I finish this fiction.

And you just know that this evil little fox is going to torture people some more! ::Smirk::

As always, Read and Review! Thanks guys!


	15. Dance Of The Leaves

Author's Opening Rant-Wow! I didn't realize just how many reviews I had! Omg, thank you thank you thank you all so very much from the bottom of my heart! Your reviews are what keep me going on this fiction, and I am eternally grateful to you guys! THANKS!

But I'm sure you're all very anxious to get to—THE DANCE! So, let's dive in, shall we?

**Chapter 15- Dance of the Leaves**

The stars sparkled like rare diamonds through the velvet curtain of the night. It was finally the moment that all of Konohagakure had been waiting for, the Leaf Festival Dance. Festival goers lined the streets, all dressed in very formal and very fancy outfits, all giggling and happily taking their loved ones by the hand. The main stage of the dance was situated underneath the Hokage monument, but the jubilation in the air was so intoxicating that many people just danced wherever they could find a little space. The younger children of Konoha who had no interest in such mushy junk had their own way of entertaining themselves. Konohamaru, Hyuuga Hanabi, and a whole pack of the little ninjas in training had torn open several of the bags of leaves and were thrashing about excitedly in their pile.

Seeing this, Iruka felt the need to exercise his authority as their teacher, taking a moment to pat down his formal outfit before screaming at the top of his lungs, "YOU BRATS! GET OUT OF THERE OR ELSE WE'LL SET THE PILE ON FIRE WITH YOU STILL IN IT!" The younger ninjas scattered at the threat, spilling dead leaves all over. Iruka took a moment to catch his breath before turning back to enjoy the festivities of the dance, hoping he wouldn't have to keep an eye on the kids the whole night long.

He only had a brief moment to think about this as Uzumaki Naruto came bounding over to him in his still crinkled green outfit, "Iruka-sensei!! Iruka-sensei!! Hey, over here!" The hyper blonde came to an abrupt stop in front of his former teacher, his face beaming, and strands of bright yellow hanging loosely over his eyes because of the absence of his headband.

"Ahh, Naruto. Good to see you came after all." Iruka smiled sheepishly, his eyes playing up and down the wrinkled garment. Clearly, the boy had never heard of an ironing board before.

"I'm glad to see you too, Iruka-sensei!" those wide cerulean eyes went from Iruka's face to quickly scan the immediate area, "Wait a sec. Who'd you come here with anyway, Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka shook his head slightly, "No one, Naruto. I came by myself."

"What?! How come!?" Naruto pouted up at the teacher, refusing to believe that he wasn't able to find a date either.

"Well, you see…" Iruka placed a hand on the back of his head, "I…I just didn't ask anyone. It isn't really a big deal, though."

Only half of what he had said reached Naruto. The little fox-boy's face twisted in thought, arms folded tightly across his chest. Slowly, his bright orbs came across a face in the crowd, and an evil little thought struck him. Naruto jumped around behind Iruka, shoving the teacher forcefully forward, "This way, Iruka-sensei!"

"Na-Naruto?! What are you--"

"Don't you worry!" That fox-like grin caressed the young boy's face, "I'll take care of it! You just nod and smile when I tell you to, okay?!" Naruto would not stand to see his favorite person in all of Konoha spend the night of the famous Leaf Festival dance all alone, and he was resolved to set Iruka up. Lucky that Naruto had caught her face in the crowd when he had, or else the thought would have never occurred to him. He continued to push the flustered Chuunin through the masses of people, smirking over how cunning he could be sometimes.

Not very far from them, Hatake Kakashi was slowly making his way over to his target of attention for the night. Kakashi's formal outfit was less than formal; just a long black outfit, complete with his slanted headband and mysterious mask. Kakashi had the perfect speech in mind, and Shizune was directly in front of him. Cautiously, the white-haired Jounin stepped past a few dancing couples and made his way over towards the medical specialist. He was fully prepared to ask Shizune to dance.

That was, until Naruto and Iruka cut him off.

Naruto hopped up and down behind his former teacher, peering out from behind the older ninja as he spoke, "Hey, Shizune-nee-chan! Nee-chan! You're not all alone tonight, are ya!?" It was only by pure chance that Naruto had spied Shizune in the crowd, and she seemed to be by herself as well. It couldn't have been more perfect if Naruto had set it up himself!

Shizune blinked in surprise at the abrupt introduction, glancing back and forth from the Chuunin to the hyper-active Gennin, "Well…well, yes, actually. Why do you ask?"

Naruto gave Iruka a final shove, nearly knocking him right into Shizune, "Good!! You can dance with Iruka-sensei! He's all alone too, and he's a nice guy so he won't try to pull anything!"

"N-Naruto!!" Iruka's entire face was engulfed in an embarrassed blush.

Shizune, on the other hand, smiled softly up at the stuttering Chuunin, "Ohh, well…I wouldn't mind. That is…if you would not mind, Iruka-sensei."

"Ahh…Ahh…w-well…" Iruka slowly allowed a grin to pull at his lips, "Well…s-sure. But, you can just call me 'Iruka'."

Kakashi was sure his face had fallen onto the floor. His eye twitched like mad, in severe frustration, and his hands instinctively balled themselves into fists. How was it that his whole week of planning had come unraveled so easily!? All he could do was shudder with anger and stare with astonishment as his planned date went skipping off with someone else. Naruto smiled, pleased with himself for having thought of it as he watched Iruka and Shizune link arms before starting off towards the main dancing area. The little blonde felt very contented with the results, despite Iruka's flustering, and even chuckled; until he felt a hand very roughly grip his shoulder, "**Naaaaaaaa-ruuuuuuu-tooooooo!!**"

"GAH!" Naruto whirled around, coming eye to eye with one of the most impressive battle auras he had ever seen, "Ka-Kakashi-sensei?! D-don't do that! You scared me to death, you know!"

"You little brat!!" Kakashi waved his arms to avoid striking his student, "You are going to run laps until your legs break when this is all over!!"

"…Huh?" Naruto stared up at the enraged Jounin, wondering what the hell he was getting so red in the face about.

Nara Shikamaru took a minute to straighten out his dark burgundy outfit for about the one-thousandth time as he made his way towards Ino's house. The nervous little shadow shinobi kept checking over his shoulder, a neurotic mess of twitching and fidgeting accompanying the movement. It wasn't that he had any great anxiety over meeting up with Ino; he had known the girl since they were children, and hanging around her left him with an uncommonly tranquil feeling. His nervousness was over the not-so-irrational fear that Temari might jump out of some dark alleyway and beat him to death for ditching out on her. He shivered, just imagining what that massive metal fan might feel like being smashed against his face, and again checked behind him to make sure that he was alone on the wide street. Shikamaru turned back around as he shuffled down the street, grateful to see Ino's house quickly approaching. He allowed himself to breathe a short sigh of relief. Once he reached Ino's house, he'd be home free; Ino was just crazy enough to defend their date to the death if Temari randomly showed up and tried to cut in, so Shikamaru knew for sure he'd be safe from any further girl problems.

But Shikamaru's stomach dropped as he wandered over to the massive tree on Ino's front lawn, their agreed meeting place, and saw Temari of the sand sitting calmly in the grass. The sand kunoichi smiled and waved, the sleeve of her lavender yukata limply wriggling with the motion, "Nara! You're late."

The shadow shinobi stared in dumbfounded shock, instantly jumping to conclusions, "Oh my god, you killed Ino!" Temari chuckled at the look on his face, and Shikamaru nearly bolted for safety. This was becoming more and more of a trouble mess as the seconds went by.

A second voice called over to the shaken Shikamaru just before he tore away to flee for his life, "There you are! You lazy bum!"

"Ino?" dark eyes curiously eyed the white-clad kunoichi, "But…but I thought…then…then why?" He pointed back and forth between the girls, wracking his brain as he tried to figure out just what the hell was going on here.

Yamanaka Ino just sighed and shook her head, "You see, Tema-chan? Didn't I tell you he was going to be late?"

"…_Tema-CHAN?!" _Shikamaru could feel himself beginning to sweat in fear.

"Yeah…" Temari stood up, tapping a finger against her cheek as she surveyed Shikamaru's outfit, "But at least he didn't wear something dreadful, Ino-chan."

"Wa-wa-wa-wait a minute here!" Shikamaru backed away from them both. He had just about figured out what was going on, and absolutely wanted no part in it!

Ino very calmly smiled and grabbed a hold of one of his sleeves to prevent fleeing, "Shikamaru, Tema-chan and I had a nice long talk yesterday, and we decided we've got a lot in common!"

"That's true." Temari nodded in agreement, stepping in closer to close the trap around the shadow-wielding ninja, "And we decided it would be better if we just got along instead of tearing each other apart over a good-for-nothing lazy little boy."

"So…so you're friends now?!" Shikamaru took a step back in an attempt at escaping, but Ino just tightened her grip on his outfit. Apparently, resistance was futile.

"Yup!" the Konoha blonde stepped in and took a hold of his arm, "And I was just thinking, we can't just let Tema-chan go to the famous Leaf Festival all by herself, can we?"

"Yes we can." Shikamaru could just feel the color running from his face. He knew exactly what Ino was leading up to. Having to attend the dance with one female was more than enough of a challenge for the laid back Shikamaru, going with both of them at once was likely to kill him.

Temari took a hold of Shikamaru's other arm, "Ohhh, don't be so mean, Nara!"

"She'll just hang around us at the dance, okay? Just because she has no one to go with!" Ino spoke as if it were still up to debate, but obviously, the matter had been decided long before Shikamaru had even arrived.

He squirmed like a bear caught in a trap, his eyes flying back and forth between the both of them, "N-now wait just a damn minute! This…this is--!" Shikamaru attempted to protest, but was sharply cut off by the two giggling blondes attached to him.

"Nara!"

"Shikamaru!"

"Let's get to the dance already!"

"Yeah! Let's have some fun!"

The poor whimpering Shikamaru was dragged away by his two captors, all the while squirming and muttering like a reluctant child being taken to the doctor. Temari and Ino practically squealed in his ears, talking happily between themselves about how much fun this was going to be, and how they would just take turns dancing with him until they were all exhausted. Shikamaru let out a loud groan as they hauled him closer and closer to the Festival dance, _"Ugghh…I think I liked it better when they were just FIGHTING over me…troublesome women…" _The poor tormented Nara heir could do little more than sigh and pray that the night ended quickly, before the girls wound up dancing him to death.

A short distance from them, in a different part of Konohagakure village, Haruno Sakura was making a few last minute adjustments to her yukata when she heard a very forceful rapping on her front door. Her bright green eyes left her mirror for an instant as she heard the front door open; meaning either her mother or father had answered the door and she still had a few moments left to spruce herself up. Sakura went back to admiring her clothing as she heard hushed voices conversing downstairs. Her yukata was soft and red, with floating cherry blossom petals imprinted all over the fabric. Her mother had laughed when the pink-haired kunoichi had tried it on, and made more than one remark about her name, but Sakura had decided that she liked the outfit very much and was resolved to wear it to the dance.

"Sakura!" her mother's voice shouted, "Your date is here! Hurry up! You're being very rude to him!"

"I'm coming!!" she shouted back, taking a moment to tuck some of her vivid pink hair behind an ear before she hurried out of her room and down the stairs. As she descended the staircase, Sakura was greeted by the glowing smile of Rock Lee. She flustered a little, still unaccustomed to being admired so thoroughly by someone, and smiled right back as she moved to welcome Lee, "Uhhh, hey."

Lee's smile only increased, "Good evening, Sakura-can. You look very beautiful tonight."

Sakura shyly bit at her bottom lip, a foot tapping lightly against the ground, "Ohh, thank you, Lee-san. I…Uhm, I mean, you look very nice too." The words felt somehow awkward, almost like a forced compliment. But Lee certainly did look a whole lot better in normal clothing as opposed to that bright green leotard he was seen in every other day of the year.

"Sakura-san, you are far to kind." Lee dipped in a formal bow, then very courteously offered her his arm like the little gentleman he was, "Shall we go?"

"Sure!" Sakura gradually reached over and linked her arm with his, waving a quick good-bye to her mother as she and Lee went off towards the festival grounds. On the walk there, the pink-haired Haruno glanced over at the taijutsu master "Oh! I almost forgot! There's something I have to do before we dance, okay Lee-san?"

"Of course." Lee blinked down at his date, hoping he wouldn't hear either the word 'Uchiha' or 'Sasuke' in the next sentence out of her mouth, "What….is it exactly?"

"I just have to meet up with Naruto really quickly." Sakura grinned secretly to herself.

Lee just sighed with relief. Naruto was not threat what so ever, and odds were that Sakura just had to tell him something or make sure he was behaving himself. A smile came over Lee's face as he escorted Sakura into the thick of the crowd, "Yes, that is no problem at all, Sakura-san! I am sure that I will still remember how to dance no matter how long you need to meet with Naruto-kun!" Sakura returned the wide grin that Lee had trained on her and allowed herself to be led by the arm. It was so sweet, the way he treated her and the way he spoke to her. Maybe she'd be able to spend the whole night without thinking about Sasuke after all.

Just a little closer to the monument, Sakura ran across her sensei. She asked Lee to stop for a moment so she could ask Kakashi if he had seen the short blonde, but the miserable face on Kakashi as he spoke to his fellow Jounin deterred any hope of having conversation with him.

Kakashi pouted behind that mysterious mask, his eye glaring at Asuma's wide smile, "But…you told me that she had said 'NO'…"

Asuma chuckled to himself, "Yeah, well. I just didn't want you to rag on me for it!" Kurenai glanced at the both of them with those shockingly red eyes of hers—from her spot at Asuma's side—her eyebrows furrowed lightly. The female Jounin didn't much like the thought that Asuma was discussing their relationship with Kakashi behind her back, but just for the dance, she'd let it go. Still chuckling, Asuma led Kurenai off to dance as Kakashi dragged himself over to a booth, hoping they sold sake by the gallon.

Sakura quickly realized that her sensei was not going to be much help. But as luck would have it, a loud crash and someone screaming out curses caught her attention, as well as the attention of many of the other villagers. Lee caught sight of it first because of his height: the wrecked booth, the irate vendor, and the foxy little thief running off with an armload of stolen goods. None other than the infamously mischievous Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto tore away from the scene of the wreck, but soon caught sight of his pink-haired teammate and jogged up to her and her still grinning date, "Hi-ya, Sakura-chan! You came to the dance afterall! And you got the Fuzzy-eyebrows to take you!"

A vein popped on Sakura's forehead as she reached over and belted Naruto on his shoulder, "Don't call him that!" Naruto rubbed sadly at the not-so-painful wound on his shoulder as Lee smirked further, happy that she had actually defended him. Sakura shook her head a little, trying to ignore the urge to scream at her teammate and focus on the task at hand, "Anyway, I'm glad I ran into you, Naruto."

"You are?" the blonde shinobi squinted his eyes in confusion.

"Yeah. I want you to follow me for a second."

"You do?!" this time it was Lee who spoke up, afraid that he might actually lose his date to the single biggest dope in Konoha.

Sakura smiled nervously to her date, slowly pulling her arm away from his, "I'll be right back, Lee-san, I promise! I just want Naruto to do something for me, okay?" The bowl-headed ninja's bottom lip quivered tensely, but he nodded his head and planted his feet, resolved to stay put until Sakura returned from whatever on earth she had planned. Sakura smiled up at the elder Gennin, and quickly reached over to pull Naruto away by his dark green sleeve.

"Wait, wait, wait! Sakura-chan!" Naruto stared at her back as she led him vehemently through the crowd, "Tell me what this is all about, okay?!"

"Just shush!" Sakura very suddenly stopped, glancing the area over as Naruto stumbled to avoid knocking into her. The kunoichi smiled, wagging a finger in the air as she addressed her shorter friend, "Okay Naruto, listen very carefully! I want you to WAIT RIGHT HERE!"

"…huh?" curious azure eyes studied her face, but only got a wider, and almost sinister, grin as a reply.

"I need you to wait here. You're waiting for…someone. NO! Not there, HERE! Under this black cherry tree!" Sakura grabbed Naruto's collar with a hand and sat him under the skinny tree, making sure he was firmly seated before she started fussing over his wrinkled outfit, "You understand? Wait right here, someone is going to show up. Then you have to take it from there!"

"_Sakura-chan…I have no idea what you're going on about…" _Naruto bit his lip to avoid saying it out loud. He stared up at her as she smiled, obviously pleased that she had gotten one of his sleeves more or less straightened out. He shifted slightly on his spot under the tree, eyes glancing over the crowd nearby. Naruto figured he might as well go along with it, just so that he didn't seem like a complete idiot, "Uhh, yeah. Sure thing, Sakura-chan. I…got everything under control?"

"Good!" Sakura turned and skipped back towards Lee, her tone practically giggly as she waved to Naruto, "I'll see you later, then! Have a good time, Naruto!"

Naruto watched her leave, still unsure as to what in the hell had gotten into her. Maybe the Fuzzy-eyebrows' craziness was contagious. He settled himself into his spot to wait, bright orbs catching sight of a fish catching booth just off to his side. Naruto smirked as a young boy dropped a goldfish for the third time, and then started to play with the idea of just strolling up to the booth and cheating to win a bunch of those fish. It would piss the vendor off, which he just loved to do, and it would make this waiting go much quicker. But all of a sudden his wait ended as soft footsteps crunched over the dirt towards him. Naruto turned, a little more than curious as to just who he had been waiting for.

The fox-boy came face to face with a flustered Hyuuga Hinata, who looked more like a deer caught in headlights than anything else.

Elsewhere at the dance, the cleverest plan of the week was slowly being revealed to Tenten. Since the plan had been launched into action and there was no more need for secrecy, Neji decided to clue the weapons master in, and finally clear the air between them of this all-consuming jealousy.

"So…so wait a minute!" Tenten's jaw was practically on the floor as she listened to the details, "So THAT was why Sakura was so hell-bent on talking to you?!"

"Yes." Neji nodded, a light smile across his face, "It was all a set-up. Sakura-san figured all along that Hinata-sama would be too shy and Naruto would be dumb as concrete, so she came up with a very intelligent way of getting them together without either one realizing it and backing out. I asked Hinata-sama to meet me, but really, I sent her over to where Sakura-san and I had agreed to leave Naruto." He glanced sideways at Tenten, nearly breaking into giggles at the continued look of shock that had fixed itself on her face.

"So I've been worked up all week long over nothing?!" Tenten had to look away from Neji for a moment. That cocky smirk on his face just made her feel even more embarrassed about not having figured this out long ago.

"Sorry." Neji barely stifled a laugh, reaching a hand up to scratch at the back of his head, "I never intended for you to…get so worked up. And neither did Sakura-san. It was…just a sort of unfortunate side effect."

Tenten leaned over and buried her face on Neji's shoulder. Her mind instantly replayed all of the foolish things she had said and done over the past week because she had been thinking that Sakura was trying to steal Neji away, and her embarrassment multiplied. The humiliation bubbled up in the form of little giggles as the chocolate-haired kunoichi shook her head against the royal blue fabric on Neji's shoulder, "I feel like such an idiot!"

"Don't worry about it." Neji wore one of his rare smiles as he coaxed Tenten from his arm, "I…should have told you sooner, but I was afraid that Hinata-sama or that moron might get wind of the plan."

"But, wait a minute!" Tenten's head snapped back up, her dark eyes training on Neji's pale orbs, "You said Sakura was beautiful! You said it before you guys ever had that weird discussion!"

"…so?" He blinked at her, wondering what she was getting at.

"So?!" she practically squealed back at him, a look of hurt quickly sparking up in her eyes, "So you've never said that to me!"

"Tenten…" Neji allowed his eyes to shut for a moment, "I didn't mean it like that. And so what if I said she was beautiful? The truth was, I had been intending to ask you to the dance all along, but after that, you seemed more angry with me than anything, so I figured asking you would only get me into deeper trouble with you." He paused a moment, letting the statement sink into her mind before he spoke again, "But you certainly beat me to asking, didn't you?"

She stared up at him, awestruck, a finger playing absently with a lock of her hair as she searched for some kind of come back that might still validate her anger, "Well…well, I…"

"But," Neji went on, reaching over and lightly taking a hold of Tenten's hands, "if it's so important to you, I'll say it now. Tenten, you look beautiful."

"…N…Neji…" the kunoichi stared up at him, a blush etched across her face. It was the first time he had, or anyone had for that matter, told her that she was beautiful, and it left her somewhat breathless.

Those pale eyes smirked right back, "So then, shall we dance?"

Tenten finally permitted her lips to twist into a happy grin. Before she answered, she leaned in slightly, moving a hand to very slightly lift the bottom of Neji's headband. She placed a soft kiss on his forehead, transferring the breathless silence from her to the Hyuuga genius as she leaned back to respond, "I would love to dance, Neji." He stared back at her a moment, almost as if he had forgotten that he had asked. Tenten just giggled at how easily the great Hyuuga Neji could come unraveled, and gave his arms a few tugs to bring him out of his stupor. Eventually, Neji let that rare smile creep back over his face, and gave Tenten a twirl as the pair began their dance.

Hinata had absolutely no idea what to do next. She had just left her house, on her way to keep her promise with her cousin and meet him at the Festival Dance as he had asked. That was all she was doing. But instead of Neji-nii-chan, she had come across Naruto sitting in the exact spot where Neji had asked to meet with her. As stunned as her mind was, Hinata quickly realized that this had been a set up, but at the moment she wasn't sure if she was grateful to her cousin, or completely pissed off. Her wide, pale eyes just gazed and gazed and gazed at Naruto, terrified to talk and too numb from the surprise to run away. True, it was the opportunity she had been waiting for all week, free of any Kibas or Sakuras, just the two of them at the dance, either without a date. But what on earth was she supposed to do next?! Hinata clenched her hands together as she begged her shocked brain to think up something to do now.

Naruto watched her a moment, slowly standing up under that skinny black cherry tree. She seemed like a nervous wreck, for whatever reason. Was this who Sakura had wanted him to meet up with? Slowly, the blonde's mouth curled into a pleasant smile as he spoke to break the silence between them.

"Hinata! I guess…I've been waiting for you!"

Author's Closing Rant- MWAAA-HAAA-HAAA!! That's right: This chapter ends right there! ::Dives as all of her reviewers launch rockets at her:: But I have a reason for it! I wanted to shove an entire chapter aside just for Naruto and Hinata! Heh, I'll bet you're all pretty sorry that you were angry at Sakura now, huh?! n.n

Yay for my NejiTenten fluffiness! O.o; I can't believe it turned out as good as it did, OOC-ness aside. I'm actually very pleased with it! And the torture of Shikamaru is now complete! Kukukukuku!!!

'Nee-chan' means older sister, and Naruto called Shizune this more than once on the show. 

Remember to read and review! The more reviews I get, the sooner the next chapter will go up! Wahhh-haa-haa! Yes, blackmail! I am an evil little Fox! ::Smirk::

See what happens next update, minna-san! (Everyone!)


	16. Reluctant Hearts United

Author's Opening Rant- Oh…my god. I cannot even begin to tell you all how happy I am with the reviews I got from the last chapter! 19 reviews in one shot! And all of them wonderful! (I nearly cried!!) I had to dodge a few rockets here and there—save for the heat-seekers! Dodging doesn't help!—but I'm glad for the feedback! And since you all reviewed so much and so quickly, here it is, as promised!

Again, as always, I'll have to start off with a great big THANK YOU to everyone who's been reading and reviewing my fic! (over 100 reviews! WHOO!) It's only because of all of your support that this story has turned out so well! So a million-thousand-hundred times, Thank you all!

But enough of that! I'm sure you're all very anxious to get to the NaruHina chapter! And don't worry; Chouji will make an appearance! ::Smirk::

**Chapter 16- Reluctant Hearts United**

"Hinata? Ohh…I guess I've been waiting for you!" Naruto's soft smile gradually spread across his whole face as he eyed the shy kunoichi in her dark violet yukata. He wasn't quite sure what Sakura-chan had in mind exactly, but reflecting over his conversation with Iruka-sensei, this would be the perfect opportunity to ask Hinata to a dance! The band was playing only a short distance from them, a soft and melodic tune that served as unusually perfect background music.

But the shock of it was too much at once for Hinata, like being thrown into a deep river of ice water. Her hands flew instantly to her face, hiding behind her long, dark sleeves and hoping that she might somehow just vanish from the face of the earth. _"Naruto-kun is staring right at me!! What should I do, what should I do?!" _Hinata closed her eyes tightly as her face exploded in a blush.

Naruto's ocean blue eyes fluttered as he watched her cringe over nothing in particular, "Hinata? What's wrong…?" He only received a whimpered reply from behind those long sleeves as she took a nervous step backwards. A frown immediately dotted Naruto's face. There was no need for her to act so shyly around him; hadn't he explained this already? The blonde felt a twinge of guilt shifting in his stomach, she had been just fine until he opened his mouth, and then she turned into a nervous wreck all of a sudden. He didn't want Hinata to feel so uncomfortable and nervous, he wanted her to enjoy the dance! Slowly, Naruto strode up to the shy kunoichi, the expression on his face softening. He lifted his hands to hers and very gently pried them away from her face, "You shouldn't do that, you know."

Wide pale eyes stared up at him timidly, unable to speak very clearly due to the fact that he was now holding her hands down at her sides, "Do…do what…?"

Those bright blue eyes lit up with a smile, "Hide such a pretty face! Don't you know that?"

Hinata was going to faint, she was sure of it. Or she had died and gone to heaven. Or she was going to wake up from this dream any minute now. Her face flustered so badly that she could feel the heat burning on her ears and down her neck--which was where her heart was currently residing. She took a moment trying to catch her breath, her eyes refusing to look away from the ground and into those hypnotizing blue eyes. "Na…Naruto-kun, I…"

"If you're embarrassed cuz you can't dance, then you can just hang out with me…if, you know, you want to." Naruto blindly continued speaking, "I mean, we can go around to all the festival booths and junk, and do other stuff."

"Why…" Hinata ventured a quick glance at him, pale violet orbs meeting bright blue, "…why…are you…b-being so nice…?" The thought dryly poked at the back of her mind, that since this was a set up after all, maybe he was only here because someone had bribed or ordered him to. Or worse; he pitied her so badly that he'd rather force himself to hang around her instead of seeing her drag her lonely self around.

Very surprisingly, Hinata caught the slightest beginnings of a blush break out across the blonde's cheeks, "Well, uhm…" Naruto's gaze went to the ground, trying not to stumble over his own words as he practically whispered a response, "I…don't like seeing you upset, you know. I like it better…when you smile, Hinata." He looked back up, nodding as he decided that it had been a sufficient explination. Hinata could feel her limbs shaking, her eyes locked solely on Naruto's face. She hadn't imagined that, had she? Naruto had said he liked her smile, hadn't he? Again, she was sure she was just going to pass out right where she was. "Hinata? You cold or something?" Naruto blinked a few times, glancing down at their hands still intertwined, "You're shaking real bad."

"Huh…?" the Hyuuga heiress followed his gaze down to their hands. The sight of her slender fingers tangled with his began to dissolve the lump of tension that had lodged itself in her chest. Gradually, a faint smile touched across her lips as she watched Naruto's fingers wriggle curiously between her own. Hinata just shook her head; even if they never got to dance, this moment right here meant all the world to the shy girl, "No…I'm fine, Naruto-kun…"

"Good!" A toothy smile broke across the blonde shinobi's face as he noticed her own grin, "Ah-ha! That's much much better, Hinata!" A light giggle escaped Hinata as she lifted her head to Naruto, her eyes serenely closing shut. The both of them just grinned at one another for a brief instant before Naruto pulled his hands away, sure that she wouldn't try to hide again, "Okay then! What do you say we go get some ramen? Then we can make fun of all the people at the dance!" The blonde was still under the impression that Hinata herself didn't know how to dance, so he was only trying to think of a way to make her feel less embarrassed about it.

"_Ahh! Dance!"_ A surge of adrenaline and courage mixed unexpectedly in Hinata, and the Hyuuga remembered her promise to herself not to be so shy any longer. She suddenly jumped at the opportunity of asking Naruto to dance, quite literally.

"Gyahhh!! H-Hinata?!"

Hinata's legs sprung forward, and she effectively tackled Naruto right onto the ground, landing roughly on top of him. Not that any of this registered in her mind; all she was focused on was asking him, "Naruto-kun, wait!"

The usually hyperactive ninja gaped at her, dumbfounded, wondering what had caused this drastic change in her personality. One minute they were having a perfectly normal discussion, and the next, they were suddenly sprawled out across the floor, Hinata seated neatly in the lap of the stunned shinobi. Both arms stretched out behind him to hold himself upright, quivering lightly with the added weight of the kunoichi, "W-wait what? What's wrong now?"

Her courage at once melted back into the shy, demure qualities she was known for, and a single arm concealed her mouth behind that long dark sleeve again as she spoke, "…will…will you go to the dance with me?" Finally, after all the failed attempts of the week, Hinata had gotten the question out. It felt like a tremendous relief to finally be able to say it to him.

"Hinata, I AM at the dance with you." Naruto's eyes fluttered at the curious question.

She blushed even more with embarrassment, "O-Ohhh…" All at once, it struck Hinata just who she was seated on, and she scrambled to crawl off of him. The shy girl stared at Naruto; fingers poking together, her head bowed lightly and slouched between her shoulders, her lips twisted in a mix of embarrassment and anxiousness to see if the blonde would be interested in a dance or two.

Naruto just broke out in a wide, goofy smile, "If that means you want to dance, sure thing, Hinata! All you had too do was ask!"

"R-really, Naruto-kun?" Hinata's own mouth lifted into a happy grin.

"Yeah, but…" he suddenly pouted fiercely, and for a split second, Hinata was afraid that he might just back out of the whole thing. But the next sentence out of the blonde quickly quieted those fears, "…just don't get mad at me if I step on your feet a few times, okay?"

"Okay!" Hinata was swiftly on her feet, grinning from ear to ear. It was more than she could have ever asked for!

Naruto jumped up as well, taking a moment to straighten out his dark green garments—not that it helped with all the wrinkles still stubbornly clinging to it—before reaching over and taking Hinata by her wrist, "Hope you can keep up with me!"

"I'll try." She happily allowed the blonde ninja to lead her away by the hand, a smile permanently affixed to her features.

Close by, Inuzuka Kiba was watching the two of them, though with considerably less enthusiasm than Hinata. The dog-trainer slouched at the shoulders, hands buried deep in the pockets of his dark orange outfit, and a miserable grimace plastered clear across his face, "Ah, hell! Stupid ass, short, annoying, spaz…dobe!" Akamaru looked up at his master from the ground, his tail sadly swaying. On either side of the dog shinobi stood his two sentinels, Aburame Shino and Sabaku no Gaara. It was really the only way he could be trusted to be so close to Hinata without Sakura's careful plan being undermined. Shino shot a quiet glance of pity to his teammate through dark lenses. Although the Aburame heir was just as formally dressed as the others in a charcoal gray get-up, he still had his face half hidden by a very high shirt collar and kept his trademark sunglasses in place.

Just next to Gaara stood his older brother, Kankuro, neither of them caring very much for such formal attire. Both sand boys had their usual black shinobi clothes in place, Gaara with his massive gourd hanging on his back, and Kankuro with his marionette draped over a shoulder. The puppet master reached a hand over and slapped Kiba on the back, grinning through his face make-up, "Hah! Guess you got screwed, pal!" Kiba just growled as Kankuro harassed him with insults, "And to that little twerp, no less! How does that feel, huh?! Bet you're pretty pissed off!"

"Kankuro…" Gaara sent his sibling a warning glare. Not that he gave a damn either way about Kiba, but his brother's laughter was so grating that it quickly got on the younger ninja's nerves.

Kiba sighed out loud, "…Ahh well…at least she'll be happy."

"Very happy, it seems." Shino glanced over the crowd and Bee-chan fluttered her tiny wasp wings from her perch on Shino's shoulder.

Another familiar voice cut through the music, "Hey, you guys! What's up?!" The sound of it lifted Kiba's spirits somewhat. That was unmistakably the voice of Akimichi Chouji, and there was NO way he'd ever have a date to the Festival dance. Kiba smirked to himself, figuring he'd feel a little better after a few good hundred insults at the Akimichi heir's expense—though, he remarked mentally, he'd better avoid using the 'f' word.

"Hey there, Chouji!" Smirking wickedly, Kiba turned to see the pudgy shinobi, "So what're you up to toni—AGGGGGHHHH!!!" Kiba felt the smirk melt from his face as he met the beaming expression of Akimichi Chouji, and his date: Mitarashi Anko. The other three boys turned to see as Kiba howled, "You gotta be kidding me!!" Shino's glasses nearly slid all the way down his nose in surprise, Gaara felt his jaw fall open, and Kankuro was so shocked that he couldn't even think enough to laugh more at Kiba.

"Ohh, You guys all remember Anko-sama, right?" Chouji very gleefully motioned to the much taller woman attached to his arm, dressed in a very vivid blue and purple yukata that was cut just a bit too low on her chest. And yes, the other boys stared for a moment. Chouji delighted in the heart attack he was sure he had just given his fellow Gennin, his smile almost outshining the light yellow fabric of his outfit.

Kiba's lips moved silently for a while, utterly flabbergasted and simultaneously pissed off, "W-wait…how…and, and _why_…"

"Isn't he just so cute?" Anko chirped, lifting a hand to pinch Chouji's cheek playfully, "Chouji-kun told me that all the girls had turned him down for a date, so I said I'd be more than happy to take him! Adorable little butterball!"

Kankuro finally regained himself and turned to point and laugh at Kiba, loudly. Shino shook his head a few times to clear it of the astonishment, slowly pushing the brim of his glasses back into place. Kiba…Kiba just wanted to kill someone. Chouji's smile only grew, though he was already done rubbing his little triumph in to these guys, "You'll all excuse us, right? We have a dance to attend to!" The portly ninja led his still giggling date away, looking for Shikamaru so that he could further boast about his good fortunes. The group of shocked boys watched them disappear amongst the crowd.

"That…seems so wrong." Gaara was the first to speak.

Shino just shrugged, lifting Bee-chan from his shoulder and onto his hand, "Good for him, I say." Kankuro was still laughing too much to form any real taunts, and Kiba had just about fallen over onto the floor in misery. "Well then," Shino began to follow suit and step onto the dance floor with Bee-chan, "Shall we dance?"

"Uh-huh." Gaara mirrored the bug shinobi. The cork of his gourd popped off and the sand began flowing out, forming the vague shape of a young girl. The sand-created girl followed Gaara onto the dance floor, mimicking every motion of the dark-eyed shinobi so that she almost seemed real.

Still chuckling, Kankuro hefted Crow from his shoulder and tugged the chakra strings taught. The puppet spun once, then dipped in a low bow in front of Kiba as the sand ninja snorted, "You'll excuse us, right? We also have a dance to attend to!" Kankuro roared with laughter as he took to the dance floor with his marionette, leaving Kiba completely alone, save for his dog.

Akamaru hopped up onto Kiba's head and perched there, whimpering lightly. Kiba just reached up and scratched the dog behind his ears, still grimacing sternly, "…dicks. I hope all three of them choke to death laughing at me." Akamaru barked a little for encouragement, but Kiba just huffed. Before he could delve any deeper into his depression, the dog-trainer felt a light tug on one of his dark orange sleeves. He glanced down to see who it was, and caught sight of a miniature Hinata, "huh?"

Hyuuga Hanabi shyly stared up at him, smiling weakly as she spoke, "Uhh…Kiba-kun, right?"

"Yeah. What is it?" he answered roughly.

"We…were just wondering…" Hanabi glanced backwards to where a whole group of younger ninjas in training were huddled in expectation, "If we could play with your dog."

"Excuse me?!" Kiba arched an eyebrow. Suddenly, he felt two tiny hands shoving him forward.

Konohamaru called out from behind the dog-trainer, struggling to move the much larger boy, "Yeah! Come and play with us! This dance is boring! We wanna play!" There was a chorus of 'Yeah!'s and 'Play with us!'s as the group of would-be-ninjas flocked around Kiba and forced the dog shinobi forward.

"H-hey! Wait a minute!" Kiba protested, but the children paid no attention to his reluctance. Akamaru wagged his tail gladly, is tongue lolling from the side of his mouth as he hopped down to join the kids. _"Ahhh, hell…" _Kiba sighed to himself as the little kids giddily cheered around him, _"Beats being all alone, I guess."_

A song began to play just as Naruto and Hinata hit the dance floor, a fast paced and upbeat song. Anyone who thought Naruto was hyper before was in for something of a shock: the blonde shinobi absolutely jumped all around the dance floor, laughing at himself as he nearly toppled other couples over. Hinata offered quick apologies to the grumpy dancers her date went crashing into, though she herself was giggling so baldy that her explanations only made things worse. Naruto swung Hinata all over the dance floor, keeping one hand locked within hers so he didn't loose her. She herself was immediately enveloped in his contagious delight, adding a few spins and twirls. But for the most part, their dance was completely unorganized, and incredibly fun. Hinata felt a strain on her cheeks; she couldn't remember the last time she had smiled this widely for this long. Likewise, a permanent smirk was on the little fox-boy's lips. He swung his dancing partner around again; almost toppling the row of lanterns that Iruka-sensei had so carefully placed the day before. But he didn't care. Naruto was glad Hinata had shown up when she had. She didn't seem to mind that he was dancing in some in orderly fashion, and wasn't criticizing his unruly laughter. If he hadn't known any better, he'd almost say that she was the perfect girl for him! He gave Hinata one last spin as the song ended, then nearly fell over laughing at himself. Hinata twirled around to face him, giggling into a sleeve as she panted to catch her breath. Ninja training was one thing, but dancing could sure wear you out as well.

Naruto grinned so broadly that the whisker marks on the sides of his face stretched, "Fun, huh?"

"Yeah." Hinata nodded in agreement, letting out a happy little sigh of relief.

The band almost instantly launched into their next song. Naruto glanced around as the soft melody began to play, "Whoops. Slow song." He held both hands up in front of his face; his brow furrowing as he tried to remember which hand went where. Well, he was sure one of them went on her hip! So just to be safe, Naruto reached over and placed both hands lightly on Hinata's hips, pulling the bashful kunoichi a little closer. Hinata of course turned beet-red as he did, and shyly fiddled with her sleeves a moment before placing both delicate hands softly on the blonde's shoulders. She quickly found herself locked within those hypnotizing pools of blue again. "Remember," Naruto warned as he began to lead her in a dance, "you promised not to get mad if I step on your feet!"

"I-I know…" Hinata was more than happy to allow herself to be swept across the dance floor.

Much to her surprise, Naruto wasn't half bad at slow dancing. Every step he took flowed seamlessly into the next, carefully turning with each motion. He would grin, and lean his head in a little every so often just to show that he was having as much fun slow dancing as he did jumping around like a maniac. And each time he did, Hinata's cheeks flared red before she offered him a light smile in response. He didn't even come close to stomping on her feet. Not that Hinata was staring at her feet; her eyes were trapped, utterly held captive by Naruto's bright orbs. The contact between them had Hinata's lips stuck on a dreamy smile the whole time they moved. All of the attention made the little blonde fluster, and he offered Hinata a shy little grin as he pulled her along in their dance. "You know…" Naruto's head tilted slightly as his warm smile rose across his face, "I'm really glad I ran into you tonight, Hinata!"

"…So am I, Naruto-kun…" Hinata chewed her bottom lip. Then, very slowly and very cautiously, she leaned in. She had no idea where this courageous streak was coming from tonight, but she was very grateful for it. Naruto's whole face blushed bright red as he felt Hinata resting her head against him, her nose pressing right up against the nape of his neck. She giggled as she heard him gulping nervously, and noticed his legs stiffening slightly. The suddenly very red Naruto adjusted his arms, winding them all the way around her waist as he danced. Hinata's arms limply wrapped about his neck, and she subconsciously snuggled against him. Naruto's eyes trained on her, wondering why exactly she unexpectedly had the need to press against him. Not that it was bad, not at all, but…different. His nose filled with the airy scent of lilac and perfume. He could feel that her skin was very smooth, but warm, and somehow…inviting. Naruto never had very much experience with fondness, but somehow, dancing like this with this girl, he suddenly felt as if he needed affection. His grip around her tightened again, destroying whatever little space that had been left between them. So close. Neither of them had expected or even hoped to be this close; chests pressed together, hearts pounding so badly that they threatened to overflow. It almost felt as if the whole rest of the village had faded away into the darkness of the night, leaving only the two of them dancing to the nameless tune. Luckily, Hinata's shyness was held off by the wave of bliss that had swept completely over her, and by the unusually serene smile that had come to rest on Naruto's lips. She let out a contented sigh, allowing her eyes to close for an instant as the moment overtook her. Those pale violet orbs slipped back open, her breath once again warming the side of his neck as she spoke, "Naruto-kun…?"

"Yeah, Hinata?" he whispered back, his tone sounding nearly as wistful as hers.

"…thank you."

And very lightly, she pressed a kiss onto his neck.

Author's Closing Rant- Ahhhhh…well, I'm pretty happy with how that turned out! n.n Nice and warm and fluffy. And I just had to toss the kiss in there at the end! Please review and tell me if you like it, or if it came out all wrong.

And yes—Chouji gets Anko! I had that in mind since Ch3! Tee-hee! He sure showed them! And as I said before—I'm SORRY for what I did with Kiba! V.V;

But I'm not quite done yet! Remember: I warned you about my favorite pairings! ::SMIRK::

You'll find out next update!


	17. The Cherry Blossom's Song

Author's Opening Rant-Heh heh heh, some of you guys thought I was done, eh? Nope! There's still one couple I have to throw in here. Having said that, I apologize to anyone and everyone I am about to disappoint/upset with this chapter, but I did warn you!

And again, a massive thanks to everyone who reviewed! I'm glad you liked the last chapter—I tried to get it out as quickly as I could for you! I was happy with how it turned out, so it makes me doubly happy to know you guys liked it as well! So again, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! n.n

Now then, the chapter that I personally have been anxiously waiting for. I know, I know—I'm hopeless!

**Chapter 17- The Cherry Blossom's Song**

The best laid plans of mice and men to oft at times go awry.

Haruno Sakura and her date for the night, Rock Lee, were making the rounds of the Festival grounds, eyes playing lightly over the jubilant crowd. They had not yet stopped to dance because Sakura had confessed to the grinning Lee that she hadn't eaten anything all day long; though, she kept the reason for it to herself. Lee was insistent about finding the famished kunoichi something to eat before they hit the dance floor. After all, what true gentleman would allow a girl to go hungry?

Sakura grimaced as the pair passed the third booth selling only octopus balls they had come across since they started looking, "Ugghh. I hate those things!"

"Really?" Lee smiled at her, still elated to have her clinging to his arm, "I myself like them very much! Why not try a few?"

She made a face, and Lee just chuckled, "Come on, let's see if there's another booth selling something else."

"If you say so, Sakura-san." He very happily led her from the booth and back into the thick of the crowd. After a few moments more of dodging dancing villagers, they finally came across a food stand that was selling something Sakura was willing to eat: Teriyaki Chicken. Relieved at the prospect of something that wasn't octopus balls, the pink-haired Haruno leaned in and asked the vendor for a small order. Lee immediately reached over and paid for the food, though she begged him not to, and the two of them found a quiet little corner of the street to sit and eat.

"You know…" Sakura shyly poked at her meal, "you didn't have to do that. I have some cash on me."

The elated taijutsu master only smiled wider, "But I wanted to do it, Sakura-san!"

She flustered a little, still unaccustomed to this kind treatment, and allowed her beaming emerald orbs to focus on Lee. He straightened a little as her gaze went to him, fidgeting as one of his long blue sleeves unrolled. A serene smile crossed Sakura's lips. She lifted her little meal and offered him a piece, "Want one? You did pay for it, after all."

"…really?" Lee's eyes widened.

"Of course!" she couldn't help but giggle at his expression, popping a piece of food into her mouth and happily chewing at the tasty treat.

Lee was practically in tears as he took a tiny piece of teriyaki chicken for himself, _"Sakura-san is sharing a meal with me!!! I never knew she cared so deeply! Ohhh, Gai-sensei! If only you could see just how happy I am right now!" _

"Lee-san…? You alright?" Sakura stared at him, wondering why he was sniffling and dangling the tiny piece of meat in mid-air. It almost seemed as if eating this food…pained him? Maybe she really should have gotten an order of octopus balls after all.

"Yes! I am absolutely fine, Sakura-san!" he stated forcefully, nearly leaping to his feet with the declaration. Lee rapidly stuck the food in his mouth and swallowed without bothering to chew, just to show her that he enjoyed the offering. Again, the kunoichi giggled, and Lee just broke into a happy grin.

The meal didn't last long between the two of them, and in no time, Sakura and Lee were back on their feet, looking for a good spot to share a dance. Sakura latched herself onto his arm as they walked, causing Lee to sigh contentedly for about the one-millionth time since they had left her house. He almost didn't want to believe it was happening; it still seemed too good to be true. His arm linked with the beautiful Sakura-san's, chatting pleasantly and giggling as they went through the streets, her beaming green eyes trained on him each time he offered to retell one of his many stories about his ninja missions. It was almost surreal. But after a while, his reservations dissipated—or rather, were lost to those pools of brilliant green smiling over at him--and the taijutsu master allowed himself to utterly enjoy every moment of it.

"We should get a little closer to the band." Sakura observed after a while of searching. Lee had just finished telling her of the time when Neji, Tenten and himself had fallen through a frozen lake on a mission, and only survived when the Hyuuga genius had practically thrown the other two onto solid ground. The image of course made the younger girl giggle, Neji lifting Lee by his shirt-collar and tossing him. But as soon as the story had ended, Sakura noticed how faint the music was becoming. The more they walked, the further they were from the band.

Lee glanced over his back, catching sight of the main dancing area just behind them, "Alright. That sounds like an excellent idea. This way, Sakura-san." The pair of them turned about and headed back towards the main ground, Sakura laughing as Lee knocked an older gentleman right off of his feet.

She smiled, though having to force her way through the crowd of dancers. Sakura was surprised at just how much she was enjoying this night. Lee was being his sweet, wonderful self, and with all the dancing and festivities, Sakura was content to forget all about whatever problems lie behind or before her. Right now, all she wanted to think about was this night: Dancing, eating, laughing, and having a great time at the famous Leaf Festival Dance.

That was, until she and her date had pushed their way closer to the main dance floor. She hadn't been looking for him, she hadn't been thinking of him, she had all but shoved him to the side of her brain since Lee had arrived at her doorstep, but all of a sudden, across the crowd, Sakura's astonished emerald orbs fell on the distinctive face of Uchiha Sasuke.

Lee felt a tug at his arm as his date stopped dead in her tracks, "Sakura-san? What is it?" He stared at the side of her face, wondering what her vision had suddenly become so obsessed with.

"Sa…" Sakura was afraid to admit it, lest she find out that she really was seeing things, "…Sasuke."

"Sasuke-kun?" Lee followed her gaze and caught sight of the moody Uchiha, letting out a little hum of surprise, "Wow. That _is_ Sasuke-kun. Strange to see him out here during the festival, though. I though he hated it."

Uchiha Sasuke was propped up against the wide, shadowy wall of a building, his dark ebony eyes studying the crowd. He hadn't yet caught sight of his pink-haired teammate or her date; he seemed absorbed in watching the dancers around him. His hands lay deep in the pockets of a pair of old, faded pants, and he wore a battered, dark blue, hooded sweatshirt—of course with the Uchiha fan printed on the back. Compared to the whole rest of the village, Sasuke looked horribly sloppy. Everyone else had gone to great lengths to dress up and make themselves presentable, but Sasuke almost looked as if he had just rolled out of bed.

Even still, the very sight of him made Sakura's breath catch in her throat.

Sasuke's entire posture seemed different. Not cocky and egotistical, with that flair of casual apathy that he usually radiated. His shoulders were slumped, his neck leaned slightly forward as he watched the other villagers. There was almost an innocence about him, one that everyone though he had lost long ago, and before she could stop herself, Sakura was letting go of Lee's arm to rush over at him. Lee quickly caught the kunoichi by her sleeve and lightly held her back, "Sakura-san…what…?"

"Lee-san, I…" Sakura met Lee's disappointed look, biting her bottom lip fiercely. She couldn't just abandon Lee, she knew that. But… "I-I'll just be a minute, okay? I just…I want to say 'Hi'…"

"But-"

"I'll be right back. I…I promise." Sakura gently pushed Lee's hand off and darted through the crowd of avid dancers. Rock Lee sighed heavily. He was afraid of how this whole encounter would wind out, but he was pretty sure he would not like it.

Sakura bounded over to Sasuke, silently at first, not wanting to disturb whatever it was that he was doing out here. Much to her surprise, Sasuke's eyes moved onto her before she could speak, staring almost awestruck from behind those stringy black bangs. Obviously, he hadn't expected to run into her. His voice very gradually left his lips, "…hey."

"Hey." Sakura shot back. She shyly watched him for a while, unsure if 'hey' was a good sign or a bad sign. Was he still mad with her, with the village? There was a clear glow of pain behind those silent eyes of his, and Sakura winced to herself, wishing she wasn't so useless. If only she could find out a way to help him without becoming annoying to him.

She didn't even dare acknowledge the bruise that lingered around his eye or the bandage on his forehead—most likely Naruto's handiwork. For a while, she just watched him watching the crowd. But eventually her little curious streak got the better of her, and despite the backlash of screaming it might have caused, Sakura spoke up, "Why…I mean, what are you doing out here, Sasuke?"

"Thinking." His voice remained soft and pensive, eyes still watching the twirling citizens of Konoha around him. Sakura was grateful that he hadn't whirled on her and told her to mind her own business, but the bigger surprise came to the kunoichi as the usually stoic Uchiha elaborated on his response, "I remember…one year, when I was about four…my mother tried teaching me to dance. But all I did was step on her feet all night long…"

She couldn't believe her ears. Sasuke was voluntarily telling her about his family. Sakura had always thought the subject to be taboo around the boy, especially around the festival from what she could tell. She gasped out a soft, "Sasuke-kun…"

Sasuke's lips curled into a smug smirk for the briefest of seconds. So he had regained the 'kun' at the end of his name, had he? But as quickly as it appeared, his grin had vanished. The memory of their last encounter quickly bubbled up in the Uchiha, and it occurred to him that he owed her an explination at the very least. Sasuke raked his fingers through his bangs, sighing as he let his eyes shut, "Look."

"Hnn?" Sakura's wide eyes fluttered at him.

"I know, this week, I've kind of been…" Sasuke buried both hands in his pockets, carefully searching for the right words, "well, acting like…like a…"

"An asshole?" Sakura offered to finish his sentence for him, her eyes still curiously wide.

Sasuke felt himself twitch. It was bad enough when most of the village thought he was being an asshole, but for his self-proclaimed 'biggest fan' to agree, it meant he really must have been a jerk! He shot her a glare of irritation, his voice regaining some of its usual force as he spoke, "…are you going to let me finish apologizing or not?!"

Sakura smiled up at him, her tone giggly "Sorry!" She hadn't exactly meant it that way, she was just trying to help him finish his sentence, and Naruto had been throwing that word around so much this week that it had gotten stuck in her brain.

He scowled a moment longer before turning his gaze back onto the dancers, "Well, anyway…" Sakura let out a contented sigh: 'Well, anyway' was as good as an apology in Sasuke language. Sasuke paused again, his vision playing over the whole rest of the crowd. He caught sight of the overly apprehensive Rock Lee staring in their direction, and decided it was as good a time as any to end their conversation, "…you'd better go."

"Go?" Sakura had all but forgotten her date, and the festival around them.

"Go back with Lee." Sasuke shifted against the wall, still refusing to put any weight down on his sore ankle as he sadly watched the crowd, "You'd have a better time with him than me, anyway."

"But, Sasuke-kun…" Sakura pleaded, but his gaze refused to recognize her again. Very slowly, and very reluctantly, Sakura moved away from the brooding Uchiha, her bright green orbs still fixated on him as she reached Lee's side.

Lee had watched the whole thing. The smile he had worked all night to get out of Sakura had appeared after only moments next to Sasuke. Lee was fighting a losing battle, and he knew it, "Sakura-san…? Are you alright?"

"Uh-huh." she sadly nodded, still eyeing her teammate. She didn't want to leave Sasuke all alone like this. He was recalling a past that was too painful for words, and if nothing else, he just needed someone to stay by his side…but, Sakura thought miserably, _"…I guess I'm just not the one to do it." _Her gaze gradually turned back to Lee, "Uhh…well then…let's go." Sakura faked a smile in hopes that Lee could help her to drag herself away from this.

Lee's face slowly broke into a dejected smile. The taijutsu master spoke, and though he didn't like it personally, he knew where Sakura's heart lay, "…that's okay. You can go back over to Sasuke-kun."

"Wh-what?" that phony smile was quickly erased, "But, Lee-san, I came here with you, not Sasuke-kun. I don't…I don't want to see you unhappy." Sakura chewed at her bottom lip. It seemed that either choice she made, someone was going to be heartbroken.

Tonight was certainly a night of surprises. Lee's smile widened, becoming warmer and more genuine, "Sakura-san, what makes me happy is seeing you happy. And I know you are only truly happy when you are around Sasuke-kun."

"But…" Sakura stared at the older boy, and then snuck a glace at Sasuke, shocked when she found the Uchiha staring intriguingly at them.

Lee just shook his head; gently cutting off her protest, "Go ahead. There will be other times. Maybe next year, you could save a dance for me." He ended his speech with an affectionate chuckle, a hand coming to rest on the back of his head.

Sakura gaped at him a moment. Lee really was willing to do anything to please her…even if it meant letting her go. She almost felt like crying. The pink-haired girl suddenly caught him in a tight hug, causing Lee's cheeks to break out in the reddest blush ever. "Thank you, Lee-san…" Sakura rapidly turned her head and gave Lee a light peck on his cheek. The older Gennin's eyes nearly popped right out of his head at the very unexpected sensation of her lips on his cheek, and his lungs suddenly refused to work properly.

Sakura separated from him, grinning up at Lee as he happily pressed a hand against the spot she had kissed. "W-well…" the flustered ninja smiled blissfully, "I will see you around then, Sakura-san…"

"Uh-huh!" all of the life returned to Sakura's voice as she turned and jogged back over to Sasuke, "I'll see you around, Lee-san! Thank you!"

Lee watched her turn and go, still rubbing the warmth of his cheek. That weak little smile crossed the taijutsu master's face as his date skipped further and further away from him, and eventually, he also turned and walked off to find something else to occupy his mind for now. Though, he was sure he'd just be daydreaming about that kiss for the next few weeks.

Sasuke watched the pair of them separate, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. His eyes trailed back and forth, from Sakura who came bounding next to him, over to Lee's hastily retreating back. Sakura stood right at his side, giving no explination of her actions, just smiling up at her sloppily dressed teammate. The raven-haired Uchiha focused a questioning look on the beaming Kunoichi, "What are you doing?"

He found no answer in those wide emerald orbs, only a broad, silent smile.

"…Why did you come back over here? I told you to go." Sasuke grumbled, mostly to himself, gradually piecing together Sakura's intentions.

Again, he only received a contented smile.

"I'm not dancing you know."

"I know."

Sasuke gazed at her a moment, his mind rushing to think up his next sentence. _"…She's kidding, right? No one comes to this stupid dance to stand around and stare! That's…that's boring!" _Sasuke's thoughts whirled, causing a fierce pout to cross his lips. So she was going to just let the whole past week go to waste just to stand next to him? Sasuke raked through his bangs again, letting out a tiny sound of frustration. He slowly straightened up, trying to look as grumpy as possible about what he was about to do, least someone think he actually enjoyed this sort of thing. Uchiha Sasuke reached over and grabbed Haruno Sakura's wrist, pulling her along behind him as he shuffled over towards the dance floor.

Sakura's eyes fluttered, "Sasuke-kun? What are you—"

"You came to dance, right?" he glanced at her over his shoulder, hoping she'd catch the drift without him having to actually ask her.

The Haruno girl's entire face went red, "Uhh…but…but…"

"What?" he released her wrist and turned to scowl at her, "Listen, if you don't like how I'm dressed, then—"

"That's not it!" for once, Sakura cut Sasuke off, "I just…I didn't think…"

"Just shut up." The words were harsh, but his tone was soft. Sakura did as she was told, and almost as if on cue, a soft song began to play.

Her Inner self absolutely went insane, squealing and giggling and jumping around, _"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!!! I've died and gone to heaven! No, wait! This is BETTER than heaven! Sasuke-kun is actually going to dance with meeeeeeee!!" _ Sakura did her best to calm down in hopes that she might avoid fainting, her heart already pounding. Sasuke yanked the pink-haired girl closer, his left hand lightly resting on her hip as he took a hold of her right hand. Sakura all but suppressed a squeal as the gorgeous Uchiha led her in a very slow and very leisurely dance. It turned out that Sasuke wasn't all that bad at dancing: not incredible, but Sakura credited that to the little limp she had noticed him walking with. Even while dancing, his right leg would hitch every so often.

Sakura very softly spoke up, "…does that hurt?"

"Does what hurt?"

"Your leg."

"I thought I told you to keep quiet…" Sasuke glimpsed down at his feet; he hadn't even noticed he was still limping.

Sakura watched his face scrunch as he stared down at his own feet, and for a moment, she wondered if he really didn't want to be here. Maybe it was his leg; maybe it just hurt too much to dance. Or…maybe it was her. But her fears quickly vanished as she realized what he was doing: He was taking care not to step on her feet. Each time his sandal came close to stomping on her foot, his lips would twitch one way or another in frustration. But of course, Sakura just found this to be both incredibly sweet and wonderfully cute. She let out a quiet giggle, calling Sasuke's attention back up to her, "Sorry. We can stop if you want."

He arched an eyebrow at her, still able to continue both the dance and the conversation with the utmost grace, "Okay. So when I want, we'll stop." His eyes lightly closed as he pulled her along in their dance.

Sakura wasn't sure when the rest of the world had fallen away—the music, the other dancers, the ground, and even the stars themselves had disappeared—but she wasn't too concerned at the moment; all she needed to see was Sasuke's face. She couldn't contain her smile, "Never knew you could dance, Sasuke-kun…"

"Of course I can." He answered with that smug 'I-am-Uchiha-Sasuke-after-all!' voice. And then, the most unexpected thing happened. Slowly, but surely, Sasuke allowed his lips to curl into a genuine, tranquil little smile. Not a scowl, not a sneer, not a smirk; an actual smile. Little, but it was still there, and Sakura stared in awe at the grin she never thought she would see.

Eyes like wet jewels gaped up at Sasuke, "…rare blossoms…" Her sensei's words escaped her lips, and it all became suddenly and vividly clear just what the Jounin was talking about.

Sasuke, however, hadn't been around for that conversation, "…what was that?"

"Nothing." Sakura chirped, her smile spreading back across her face. Sasuke shot her a look of mixed confusion and curiosity, but the kunoichi gave no explination for her comment. Sakura all at once leaned in, pressing her cheek right up against his as they danced.

Sasuke immediately flustered at the closeness, dark eyes turning sideways onto her, "H-hey! Isn't this…a little…too close?" Her only response was a light, contented sigh. The Uchiha heir grimaced to himself: someone was going to see him and tease him for this, he just knew it! But at the same time…the soft scent of rose petals wafting from Sakura's bright pink hair was strangely calming. _"…Ahh…hell. One dance won't kill me…" _Sasuke allowed his eyes to shut one more time; his heart beat slowing to match pace with the soft music.

And before he knew it, one dance turned into two, and three.

On the far, far side of the dancing area—which was where he had retreated to, to avoid watching Sakura-san with Sasuke—Rock Lee was leaned up against a stack of empty food crates, his head bowed so that his bowl-shaped bangs shadowed his eyes from sight. It sure was lonely, being a nice guy all the time. But he knew he had done the right thing, or rather, he hoped he had done the right thing. Either way, it sort of left him screwed over. For a moment, the thought of returning home flickered through his head, but Lee quickly dismissed the idea with a heavy sigh. He knew this night was simply too good to be true.

Just when the taijutsu master was sure he had completely drowned in misery, an eerily soft voice caught his attention, "Hey there. Why so down, Mr. Tour Guide?"

"Huh?" Lee stared a moment at the feet positioned directly in front of him, his gaze slowly trailing up the bright indigo kimono to catch sight of Temari of the sand. He blinked a few times; wondering if wasn't hallucinating women now, "T-Temari-san?"

"Heh. You're good with names." Temari flashed a grin at the leaf Gennin. She had been taking a break from dancing with the over-tired Shikamaru, since it was Ino's turn after all. Just out of the corner of her clear cobalt eyes Temari had seen the bob-haired ninja sulk over and lean against the crates, sighing so heavily she thought he might break into sobs. Out of curiosity—or perhaps, something else—the sand kunoichi had lifted from her waiting spot to speak with him, "So what's got you so down? I thought this dance was a big happy deal for you leaf ninjas."

Lee barely managed a smile, "Ohhh, well…I suppose you could say I have lost my dance partner, Temari-san." Another long sigh as the taijutsu master's shoulders slumped. There was a shot pause, an idea slowly crossing Temari's mind. In no time, she had reached over and forcefully started pulling the sulky Lee towards the dance floor, "Wha-wha-what…?"

"Lost a dance partner? Oh please!" Temari wrapped herself firmly around Lee's arm and pulled, "If that's all, I'll dance with you. Still owe you for those roses, right?"

"Wait! What are you--?!" Lee attempted to rationalize this. However, he had yet to realize just how stubborn the sand kunoichi could be.

Temari just shoved him forward, that mischievously evil grin crossing her features, "Ohh, come on! You can still point out all the 'Russet' colored trees, if you really want to!" Clearly, this girl never took 'no' as an answer! The next song that the band played was a little more up beat, and, giving Lee something of a twirl, Temari launched right into a dance. The fuzzy-eyebrowed shinobi grinned, figuring he'd cut his losses and just enjoy the unusual dance partner he had picked up.

Not more than three or four steps away, Yamanaka Ino glanced over at the strange couple, giving her own dance partner a playful jab in his ribs, "Well would you look at that."

"Look at what…?" Shikamaru groaned. He had been dancing non-stop since the girls had dragged him here, and his legs were already starting to ache. So troublesome.

"It looks like you lost one of your dancing partners!" Ino turned so that he could see over her shoulder.

Shikamaru's eyes widened at the bizarre sight of Rock Lee dancing with Temari. But then again, one should never look a gift horse in the mouth, right? Shikamaru let out a relieved sigh, "Thank god!!!" He quickly looked down at Ino, his voice finally finding a bit of force, "Can we rest now?! This is much more effort that I'm used to putting into anything!!!"

Ino half giggled at him, "Lazy…"

Just then, the massive pile of dried leaves was set ablaze. The bonfire shot high into the sky, easily eclipsing the feeble light from the little torches set up on the perimeter of the dancing area. Most of the dancers came to a halt, amazed orbs staring in awe at the immense fire lighting the dark night.

Neji and Tenten found their intimate little dance interrupted by the bright blaze, both grinning widely at the display. Neji very slyly wound an arm around the kunoichi's waist, holding her nice and close as they watched the fire roar.

Shikamaru continued whining about taking a break, but Ino insisted that they at least kept going while the bonfire was lit. Although, the bonfire usually took several hours before it died out…so troublesome…

Anko squealed happily at the sight as Chouji found a few more shinobi to brag to.

Temari stared up at the pillar of fire while Lee launched into a lengthy discussion about the traditional leaf-lighting ceremony.

Shino glanced away from his dance to stare up at the bonfire, adjusting his sunglasses a little. Even Gaara and Kankuro, who had to stop dancing once their partners began fighting—the sand-girl had whirled on Crow when 'she' thought that the puppet had tried to step on her feet—felt compelled to stare up at the raging fire.

Kiba and his little band of mischief-makers, who had been running around howling with laughter as a pilfered bag of leaves spilled open behind them, stopped in their tracks to "oooh" and "ahhh" at the huge wall of flames.

The Hokage turned to grin triumphantly at the fire, giving her dance partner a good thwap to the head. Yes: Jiraiya had gotten his one dance! Though…it had ended rather quickly, just as soon as the ero-sennin had pretended to trip only to smoosh his face in Tsunade's chest. The large bump on his head was an indication of just how much Tsunade had disapproved of that maneuver.

Kakashi glanced lazily up at the bonfire, sipping a cup of warm sake. On one side, Gai was shouting and pinging, on the other, Kurenai and Asuma were still engaged in a close dance. Ohhh yeah…the white-haired Jounin was having a WONDERFUL damn time…

Naruto's ocean blue eyes lit up along with the fire, "Hey! Hinata! Lookit, lookit! They lit the fire already!" The hyperactive blonde's attention set squarely on the fire.

"Hnnn?" Hinata peered her eyes open slightly, already half asleep against Naruto's very comfortable chest.

"The fire! Look!" Naruto had to basically hold his dance partner up at this point, not that he was complaining.

Sasuke had immediately stopped dancing as the fire went up, his mind spiraling with memories. His eyes locked on the flames, thinking of his mother, his father…and of course, the girl still very close up against him.

All of Konoha had turned to watch the massive blaze.

But Sakura, who felt a serene smile spreading slowly across her lips, was content to watch the reflection of the flames in Sasuke's perfectly onyx eyes.

Author's Ending Rant: Auuuugh!! I'm so SORRY for the delay! Damned writer's block hit me about halfway through this chapter! And it was my favorite one, too! oU.Uo Soooo long… Geez.

Ohh yeah. I'm a hopeless SasukexSakura fan! I really, really do hope Kishimoto-san eventually pairs them up! So of course, this chapter was so far one of my favorites! n.n Please read and review, as always, and tell me your input! Personally, I LOVE how this chapter came out. But…you may disagree. O.o; Anyway, review!!!

So those would be the final pairings! (Yay!) I definitely get points for originality with ChoujixAnko and LeexTemari. Yeah, I've had Lee's fate plotted out since I started! ::Smirk!:: One more chapter left to wrap everything up into a neat little package!

Wait for the next, and final, update!


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